NAPALM DEATH — Order of the Leech (review)

NAPALM DEATH — Order of the Leech album cover Album · 2002 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Order of the Leech" is the 10th full-length studio album by UK death metal/grindcore act Napalm Death. The album was released through Spitfire Records in October 2002. Although guitarist Jesse Pintado is credited as part of the lineup, he actually didn´t perform and all guitars are therefore played by Mitch Harris.

"Order of the Leech" more or less continues the death metal/grindcore style of "Enemy of the Music Business (2000)", although it leans slightly more to the death metal side of the band´s sound than the case was on the predecessor. Napalm Death still play a lot of hardcore punk oriented riffs and rhythms and grindcore blasts though, and maybe the death metal influence is actually a result of the sound production, which is a bit more suited for death metal than it is for grindcore. Especially the bass drums feature a tone that I associate more with death metal than with grindcore. It´s overall a well produced release, but personally I enjoyed the sound on the predecessor a great deal more.

The material on the 12 track, 44:42 is relatively well written, but it´s not as instantly catchy as much of the material on the predecessor. I have a hard time mentioning standout tracks other the album opener "Continuing War on Stupidity", but that doesn´t mean the other tracks aren´t well composed. Napalm Death never swore to regular vers/chorus structures and as a consequence of that their material can at times be quite inaccessible. repeated listens always help, but "Order of the Leech" is still not one of their most memorable albums.

We´re thankfully not back to the mid-90s failed experimentation issues, and "Order of the Leech" is enjoyable enough while it plays. The musicianship is as usual on a high level, and Mark "Barney" Greenway delivers his barking raw vocals with bite and conviction, so all is well in those departments. Some tracks could just have been a bit more memorable and the album overall a bit more varied. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is still deserved (and I´m probably being a bit too harsh here).
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