NAPALM DEATH — Apex Predator - Easy Meat (review)

NAPALM DEATH — Apex Predator - Easy Meat album cover Album · 2015 · Grindcore Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Apex Predator - Easy Meat" is the 16th full-length studio album by UK grindcore/death metal act Napalm Death. The album was released through Century Media Records in January 2015. Napalm Death is one of the originators of grindcore and formed back in the early 1980s. They´ve been hugely successful within their genre and although they dipped their toes in death metal territory and even in groove metal territory in the 90s, they´ve always maintained a grindcore edge. From the turn of the century and onwards, they´ve been on what can only be described as a creative roll, releasing one quality album after another, and their most recent album release before "Apex Predator - Easy Meat", titled "Utilitarian (2012)" was no different. Although the four members of Napalm Death are in their mid-fourties, there´s no dinosaur complex about them and they are as relevant now as they were starting out in the early 80s.

Never content to rest on their laurels or be satisfied with past achievements, Napalm Death has challenged themselves once again on "Apex Predator - Easy Meat", which in many ways is as surprising as it is familiar sounding. The opening title track is probably the most surprising and different sounding track on the album, with it´s repetitive industrial atmosphere, slow beats, and chanting vocals. It features an ominous mood and sets the tone nicely for the rest of the album, although it´s quite different sounding from what follows. As soon as "Smash a Small Digit" kicks in we´re treated to more regular Napalm Death trademarks like blast beats, advanced hardcore punked riffs, dissonance, and Mark "Barney" Greenway´s barking raw vocals in front. Greenway also ventures into clean vocal territory several times during the album´s playing time, but his clean vocals are never of the pop oriented/accessible kind.

The material on the album is overall of a very high quality. Adventurous, aggressive, loaded with a feeling of despair and desperation, and just very well put together. For the genre "Apex Predator - Easy Meat" is also a relatively varied release, with tracks like the above mentioned title track, the closing track "Adversarial / Copulating Snakes" and also a track like "Dear Slum Landlord…" pulling the diversity level up.

It´s all packed in a powerful, raw, and detailed sounding production, and performed by skilled musicians (drummer Danny Herrera as always deserves a special mention for his incredibly fast yet innovative playing), so all in all "Apex Predator - Easy Meat" is another strong album release by Napalm Death. To my ears it´s one of their more standout releases and if they continue with this level of creativity I think we can look forward to many more quality grindcore releases in the future. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.
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