Formed in Birmingham, UK in 1982, by Nik Bullen. Napalm Death were originally one of the bands that defined the UK hardcore thrash/punk sound of the mid-late 1980s, along with bands such as Extreme Noise Terror, Doom and Sore Throat. The band has gone through countless line-ups and many former members have gone on to become significant figures in a variety of musical scenes…
Formed in Birmingham, UK in 1982, by Nik Bullen. Napalm Death were originally one of the bands that defined the UK hardcore thrash/punk sound of the mid-late 1980s, along with bands such as Extreme Noise Terror, Doom and Sore Throat. The band has gone through countless line-ups and many former members have gone on to become significant figures in a variety of musical scenes…
Napalm Death are a British extreme metal band formed in Meriden, West Midlands, England, in 1981.[1] While none of its original members remain in the group since December 1986, the lineup of vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera has remained consistent of the band's career since 1992's Utopia Banished, although, from 1989 to 2004, Napalm Death were a five-piece band after they added Jesse Pintado as the replacement of one-time guitarist Bill Steer; following Pintado's departure, the band reverted to a four-piece rather than replace him…
While tempting, it would be inaccurate to say that NAPALM DEATH haven’t aged a day. Over 40 years since their formation, and 35 since the release of their genre-defining debut Scum, the grindcore pioneers have evolved and matured with undeniable and impressive grace…
Napalm Death's second full effort, From Enslavement to Obliteration in ways put the seal on what the band had done, with most of its members going off to pursue their own individual efforts soon thereafter, and as such is the perfect complement to Scum, showing the quartet both straining at the bit and honing its original approach to a T. Like Scum, it starts on a more deliberate pace, with "Evolved as One" hitting a slow, careful trudge – everything is quite discernible, even Lee Dorrian's sore-throat roar style of singing – which is all the better to build up the listener for whatever happens next…
Of all the few truly innovative bands in the realm of extreme metal, few are as exciting to follow from a chronological standpoint as Napalm Death. Beginning with their roots in the mid-'80s as a mutated hardcore punk band with a tendency to detune their guitars, growl their vocals, and play at apocalyptic levels of intensity, the band soon went through many phases that have been nearly as influential: by the late '80s they were the world's definitive grindcore band; at the dawn of the '90s they integrated the complexities of death metal into their grindcore; then in the early '90s they began experimenting with different mutations of post-grindcore metal; and finally in the late '90s they began playing a unique style of metal that blended together the best elements of grindcore, death metal, and mainstream metal…
Napalm Death's fifth demo from 1985 was an important recording for Napalm Death being the last of their punk recordings and the first showing the bands transition into more extreme music. The demo has recieved much appreciation since its release and is one of the few Napalm Death demos available still today…
NAPALM DEATH has nothing to prove. The British band is the pioneering crew that has carried the torch from the inception of grindcore through to today. It's been kicking out the jams for over 30 years, and the group's music offers enough that can appeal to a crust punk or death metal fanatic as well as a LAMB OF GOD fan or someone just discovering heavy music…
As a rallying call for what seemed like millions of bands to follow, not to mention the launching point for the varying careers of Justin Broadrick, Nick Bullen, Mitch Harris, Lee Dorrian, and Bill Steer, Scum deserves its reputation alone. But it's also fun to listen to – a strange word to use, but no doubt about it, the album has its own brand of rock & roll kicks taken to an almost ridiculous extreme…