Vim Fuego
Time for some extreme metal education.
Napalm Death have always been open about their influences, and where their inspiration came from. This is all well and good, but what do these bands actually sound like? Napalm Death came from the tape trading scene, which was where a lot of music was discovered, shared, distributed, and obsessed over in the band members’ pre-internet 1980s formative years. Listen to this album and you will get some idea of what of these bands sounded like, put through a Napalm Death filter of course.
The absolute pick of the entire album is the first track, “Low Life”, originally by Cryptic Slaughter. If you don’t know Cryptic Slaughter, the band was basically the missing link between thrash metal and grindcore. Faster and rougher than any other thrash band, there’s just the extreme distortion and guttural vocals missing from the band’s sound. Otherwise, proto-grindcore. So Napalm Death throw those elements in, and that’s exactly what you get. The song is a grind litmus test. Driven by a heavy drum riff, dual vocals, hardcore/thrash guitars, and a couple of blasts, if you don’t like this song, you won’t like Napalm Death, and probably will struggle with the entire grind spectrum. If this sounds like it would get your antenna twitching though, keep exploring.
“Messiah” is a Hellhammer track. For anyone not in the know, Hellhammer is the most famous unsigned underground band of the 80s tape trading scene. You couldn’t seriously consider yourself a tape trader unless you had a copy of the Hellhammer demos somewhere.* Why did Hellhammer become so sought after? Because the demos were fucking incredible, influencing thrash, death, black, and doom metal, and obviously, grindcore. Perversely, as was his wont, Tom G. Warrior split up Hellhammer, formed Celtic Frost, got a record deal, and wouldn’t ever fully revisit Hellhammer. It’s too fucking late now too, with the passing of co-collaborator Martin Ain. Anyway, the song itself: “Messiah” has been sped up without losing the heavy, brooding menace of Warrior’s timeless riffs.
Discharge is a much-covered band, and countless others have had a go, from Metallica to Anthrax to Machine Head and even fucking Soulfly! Instead of going for one of the obvious songs from “Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing”, Napalm Death went after the lesser known “War's No Fairytale” from the no less awesome “Fight Back” EP. Like a lot of the songs here, this interpretation of it makes the influence on Napalm Death seem so obvious. Fuck, these guys were so influential the D-beat genre was even named after them.
A far less obvious track is a cover of Kreator’s “Riot of Violence”. The original is vicious, surprisingly technical, and unexpectedly heavy, possibly due to Ventor singing on it rather than Mille. Napalm Death takes it to whole new level of heavy. While a track from a seemingly mainstream and well known band might seem a little puzzling, metal historians will know of Kreator’s origins as Tormentor, and their two highly sought after demos. These were much traded in the underground, and helped Kreator’s career take off so quickly on the release of their debut album “Endless Pain” in 1985.
Something similar happened with Sepultura, hence “Troops of Doom”. Europe and the US were of course the centres of the tape trading scenes, but even from as far afield as Brazil Sepultura made ripples in the underground. Of course, no one could have predicted how huge the band would eventually become, but no one with any sense can ever say the band hadn’t paid their underground dues first. And that opening riff is such a timeless classic, no matter who is playing it. First discovering it is one of those almost orgasmic moments which makes metal so worthwhile.
The cover of “Conform” by Siege is interesting, because Siege is possibly the only band which can genuinely challenge Napalm Death for the title of first grindcore band. Who was first? It really doesn’t matter, because we have had both bands, and both were and are incredible. Siege’s much traded and pirated “Drop Dead” demo was heavily influenced by D.R.I. and early Gang Green, and then in turn had quite an influence on early Napalm Death.
The cover of Dayglo Abortions’ “Bedtime Story” is one of those headscratching moments. The often offensive Canadian punker/crossover band is great great fun, but not an obvious influence. However, beneath their silliness, there’s a very sharp sociopolitical awareness, something which has always been more prominent in Napalm Death.
Agnostic Front’s “Blind Justice” is an essential slab of New York Hardcore, already played at a breakneck tempo. So of course, Napalm Death tuned the guitars and sped it up. “There’s no justice/There’s just us”.
There are plenty more old school underground gems to be discovered here. I’m not going to pretend that I knew them all prior to checking out this album. The Offenders (“Face Down in the Dirt”) were from Texas, and considered one of the Lone Star state’s great hardcore bands alongside MDC and D.R.I.
Devastation (“Devastation”) was a death/thrash band from Chicago, who released two demos, and split up in relative obscurity some time in the late 80s.
Anti-Cimex (“Victims of a Bomb Raid” and “Game of the Arseholes”) was one of Sweden’s most accomplished hardcore/crust punk bands.
Wehrmacht (“Night of Pain”) was an overlooked crossover thrash band from the late 80s which has since gained a strong cult following.
Master (“Master”) was one of death metal’s pioneers. While the band’s debut was recorded in 1985, it did not see the light of day until 1990. Luckily, the band’s 1985 rehearsal demo was widely traded in the underground.
Insanity (“Fire Death Fate”) was another early death metal band lost in the later rush. The band released their first demo which included “Fire Death Fate” in 1985.
Massacre’s (“Clangor Of War”) history is reasonably well known, with the band’s early line-up featuring future members of Death and Obituary, released a couple of legendary demos before splitting up, and then later reforming, a cycle which has occurred several times since.
Attitude Adjustment (“Dope Fiend”) was a San Francisco hardcore/crossover band which featured a young pre-Machine Head Chris Kontos.
Die Kreuzen (“I’m Tired”) was a strange amalgam of hardcore and pre-Seattle grunge and art rock noise.
Hirax (“Hate, Fear and Power”) was a speedy thrash band which never got the recognition it deserved in it’s heyday.
Mix all this together and you get Napalm Death. You also get one of the best cover albums ever recorded. If you don’t like cover albums, all well and good. However, if you are interested in the origins, influences, and likes of one of grindcore’s greats, do yourself a favour and check out the originals of all these tracks.
*For the record, I never managed it. I have the CD re-releases though.