NAPALM DEATH — Fear, Emptiness, Despair (review)

NAPALM DEATH — Fear, Emptiness, Despair album cover

Album · 1994 · Death Metal

4.5/5 · 2020-04-11
UMUR

"Fear, Emptiness, Despair" is the 5th full-length studio album by UK grindcore/death metal act Napalm Death. The album was released through Earache Records in May 1994. It´s the successor to "Utopia Banished" from 1992, and features the exact same lineup, who recorded that album. That was a first in the band´s history up until then. A history which had otherwise been characterized by multible lineup changes since the band´s inception in the early 80s.

The stylistic changes between releases have also been plenty throughout the years, so it´s no surprise that "Fear, Emptiness, Despair" has a very different sound to "Utopia Banished (1992)", although it´s still unmistakably the sound of Napalm Death. While "Utopia Banished (1992)" was a return to the band´s grindcore roots, albeit in a more controlled and death metal oriented style, the grindcore elements have been scaled back on "Fear, Emptiness, Despair" in favour of a groove oriented death metal style with the occassional blasting grindcore section.

While earlier releases have always featured an aggressive atmosphere and a strong feeling of indignation, "Fear, Emptiness, Despair" also reeks of bleakness and despair. There´s a sadness here about the state of world, which transcends anger. Napalm Death simply seem to have adopted a more reflective way of expressing themselves, beyond just being aggressive. And that should not be misinterpreted as if this isn´t an aggressive release, because it certainly is both aggressive and brutal. The aggression is just balanced with more bleak atmospheric moments.

The material on the 11 track, 39:12 minutes long album is well written, relatively catchy (given some spins), and very powerful. Highlights include among others "Twist the Knife (Slowly)", "Hung", and "State of Mind", but the occasionally ultra fast closing track "Throwaway" deserves a mention too. There aren´t a single sub par track featured on the album and to my ears it´s a consistently high quality release. "Fear, Emptiness, Despair" is in fact one of Napalm Death´s most varied releases and to my ears also one of their overall most memorable ones. The addition of groove oriented riffs and rhythms to their sound has really spiced things up. The word groove may scare off a few deathgrind heads, but this is not groove metal by any means. The grooves are not simple and they are generally delivered with great technical skill and adventurous riffing, which at times gives it an almost abstract edge.

Not that it wasn´t abundantly clear from listening to "Utopia Banished (1992)", but Danny Herrera is one hell of a skilled drummer and his contributions to this album is one of the great assets of "Fear, Emptiness, Despair". He is not only an incredibly fast playing rhythm machine, but also a very creative mind when it comes to composing drum patterns, and you´ll find some very inventive drumming throughout the album. The rest of the band are high level musicians too, and everything is delivered with the right organic professionalism. Lead vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway continues his hoarse throaty bark from the predecessor, and while I would still characterize his vocals as growls, they don´t sound much like he did on "Harmony Corruption (1990)" (or his years with Benediction). Personally it took me quite a few years to learn to appreciate his new approach to singing, but I get it now. It´s all about grindcore/hardcore credibility and not being associated too much with death metal. He is simply going for a more "natural" way of delivering growling vocals, which has more to do with raw hardcore shouting than it has to do with guttural death metal growling.

The sound production which was handled by Pete Coleman (and mixed by Colin Richardson), is raw, brutal, bleak, and quite original sounding. The drums feature what I would characterize as a "cardboard" sound, with an odd sounding snare drum tone, but somehow the drums fit the bleak despair of the music well. It´s cold and harsh sounding, just like the music. The lyrics of course follow suit and are definitely not about light topics. As mentioned above Napalm Death seem determined to bring those guilty in injustice, corruption, and power abuse to the attention of the world. "Armageddon X 7" is for example about the fact that there are enough nuclear weapons in the world, to blow up our planet seven times. Now why is that necessary? and isn´t it just a horrible thought? That´s the kind of topics which are dealt with on this album. And always in a clever and sophisticated fashion, which reeks of authentic indignation instead of artsy pretence.

Now I know "Fear, Emptiness, Despair" isn´t always well regarded among fans of the band, mainly as a consequence of the groove influence, but looked upon a bit more objectively, it´s a very original sounding release, both in terms of the band´s own discography but certainly also in a broader metal scene perspective. There´s really nothing like it out there and just for the courage and boldness to release something like that Napalm Death deserves a lot of praise. Add to that high level musicianship, adventurous and creative songwriting, and a suiting dark and heavy sound production, and "Fear, Emptiness, Despair" is a high quality release through and through. A 4.5 star (90%) rating is deserved.