NAPALM DEATH — Scum (review)

NAPALM DEATH — Scum album cover Album · 1987 · Grindcore Buy this album from MMA partners
2/5 ·
topofsm
For those who are looking for classic death metal at some of it's earliest incarnations, Napalm Death is your band. If that's the case though, why is this album rated so low? Well, to be honest this isn't quite as classic as the band is. Sure, it also was the forefront of grindcore in it's heyday, but there are still a few kinks in the genre to 'grind' out.

Therefore this album is more of a punk release than anything. It was created when the term grind was just being termed, and was a heavier evolution of punk music. This shows, as most of the ever-so-short songs don't even cross into tempos of modern grind as we know it. A lot of the time there are slower (for grind) tempos that almost sound groovy.

The instruments and production don't really help either. Granted, grindcore is the last place you are going to find sparkling clean production or flawless musicianship, but the early production really comes off as quite fuzzy and sloppy. The vocals would improve vastly in later releases as well.

Overall, it's apparent that not every genre-creating album can be a flawless masterpiece, and Scum is a pretty good example. For those looking for Napalm Death's best, the later death material is what you should be looking for. And there are far better early grindcore releases, one such influential one being Horrified by Repulsion. Therefore, if you're going to get this album, it's going to be for the gimmick that it's the first grindcore album, and not much else.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
Certif1ed wrote:
more than 2 years ago
Must admit I loathe it, in terms of an album to actually listen to, but have the greatest admiration and even respect for it as a landmark in metal music. One only has to listen to Venom's Black Metal to realise that genre defining masterpieces can also be horrendous noise, with a very low quotient of actual musicianship. Spotting the true implications of what in reality is quite abysmal music is a fine art unless you're gifted with hindsight. It's well noted that "Scum" is a logical extension of punk - an interpretation close to punk's outspoken ideals, but it's also true that it bears much in common with avante-garde music, since, all genres and labels aside, it completely annihilates conceptions of what music can sound like and how it can be performed. I think it's a bit more than a gimmick, even if accidentally...
UMUR wrote:
more than 2 years ago
I fully agree and couldn´t have said it much better. Scum is a classic but not necessarily a very good album.

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Negative Music Hardcore Punk
HAUST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Every Sound Has A Color In The Valley Of Night Progressive Metal
NIGHT VERSES
Buy this album from MMA partners
Witches Burn Alive Stoner Metal
LOVE YOUR WITCH
Buy this album from MMA partners
I Doom Metal
KAPUTTH
Buy this album from MMA partners
Kingdom Of Guilt Metalcore
THE WARRING TRIAD
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

ScapeGoat Official Lyric Video
FIREFLAME
Bosh66· 2 days ago
FireFlame - The Last Ride (Official Video)
FIREFLAME
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Fervence - Hezekiah (Official Music Video)
FERVENCE
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Fervence - The Silent Wall
FERVENCE
Bosh66· 2 days ago
Fervence - Corrosion (Visualizer)
FERVENCE
Bosh66· 2 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed