NAPALM DEATH — Scum (review)

Album · 1987 · Grindcore

2/5 · 2011-11-28
J-Man

When it comes to grindcore, you'll have a pretty difficult time finding any album more significant than Napalm Death's legendary 1987 debut. Scum is not only considered to be grindcore's first groundbreaking release, but it has also spawned literally hundreds of copycats over the years; one could even argue that this is grindcore's genre-defining album. Scum is raw, filthy, and unpolished grindcore in its most pure and simple form - after giving this debut even one listen, it's not difficult to understand why Scum is so significant in grindcore circles, especially considering its 1987 release date. From a purely historical point of view, Scum is an album that should be in the collection of every metal fan, simply because its significance alone is enough to label it 'essential'. Unfortunately, when it boils down to the sheer quality of the music, Scum fails to live up to expectations. An interesting and important release for sure, yet I can't help but think that Scum has been outdone numerous times throughout grindcore's history.

Scum is the absolute definition of what the earliest examples of grindcore sound like. There's a firm root in hardcore punk's fast paced riffs and rough production qualities, but there's also lots of blast beats and extreme thrash-styled riffs. Hence, this marriage of hardcore punk and metal was born and named 'grindcore'. All of the songs here are also very brief (which would later become a common characteristic of grindcore), focusing more on unleashing a furious burst of anger than delivering any thought-provoking compositions. The (probably intentionally) terrible production and sloppy musicianship can make this undecipherable wall of anger and noise very difficult to appreciate, and even though I do love the energetic sound that Napalm Death shows on this debut, the music is honestly pretty poor.

This is one of those cases where, in spite of its infinite praise and legendary status, I have to say that I fail to see what's so great about this classic album. Scum is ultimately important because of its ambitious and innovative attitude, but it's a pretty shallow release when it comes to songwriting, musicianship, and production. Still, it's hard to deny the influence and significance this release has, so 2 stars seems pretty fair in this case. Napalm Death would go on to do plenty of better things, though, so I'd recommend starting later in their discography if you're curious about these English metalheads.

One interesting sidenote about Scum is the fact that the lineups of side one and side two of the original vinyl are entirely different, aside from drummer Mick Harris. It's really interesting to hear such radically different lineups on the same album, and it's actually surprising how similar both of these Napalm Death casts sound. Aside from Lee Dorian's slightly more varied vocal approach (Nik Napalm's vocals can best be described as one-dimensional shouting) and a few slight differences in production style, both portions of Scum do sound like they're from the same lineup.