NAPALM DEATH — Smear Campaign (review)

NAPALM DEATH — Smear Campaign album cover Album · 2006 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
Kingcrimsonprog
Tasked with following up possibly three of the best albums that they made in over fifteen years, Napalm Death endeavored to release essentially more of the same only with a few new ideas as well. Like many Napalm Death fans I was greatly pleased with the renewed energy and intensity that the band had adopted for the fantastic trio of albums ‘Enemy of the Music Business,’ ‘Order of the Leech,’ and especially ‘The Code Is Red… Long Live The Code,’ which were very strong albums that made Napalm Death sound important again after their experimental period.

2006′s Smear Campaign largely follows the Death, Grind and American Hardcore stylistic mixture that made the previous three albums so good; keeping the occasional unexpected Hatebreed style riffs, the blasting over swirling riffs and the general extreme-metal harshness that fans have come to expect.

There is a bit of variety to be had on Smear Campaign; the album has the unique status of featuring lyrics almost solely on the topic of religion, as opposed to the band’s usual mostly political content. Furthermore some of the songs venture into different territory such as the intro ‘Weltschmerz,’ (which is slightly reminiscent of the intros from ‘Scum,’ and ‘From Enslavement’) or unusual ‘In Deference,’ with its guest female vocals, but as a general rule the songs are pretty fast, contain many blastbeats and the songs are often rather short.

Overall, Smear Campaign is a pretty solid Napalm Death album, although stylistically quite similar to the three albums which proceeded it. If this is not a problem, then Smear Campaign will be a welcome addition to your collection, perhaps not the greatest album that they ever released but giving you everything you could want from a modern Napalm Death album nonetheless.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

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

Hin helga kvöl Atmospheric Sludge Metal
SÓLSTAFIR
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Cycles of Suffering Black Metal
BURIAL OATH
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Suns of Perdition - Chapter IV: To Shadow Zion Black Metal
PANZERFAUST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Facilis Descensus Averno Death Metal
SAEVUS FINIS
Buy this album from MMA partners
Merciless Crossover Thrash
BODY COUNT
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Vengeance [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - I Need You [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 5 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