History
Reviews
NAPALM DEATH - INSIDE THE TORN APART - EARACHE
Singer Barney left the band and got replaced. Barney is back in the band again - even if the band bio from Earache somehow forgets to mention this small detail. Despite the fact that Napalm Death album number six is not great, it has turned out much better than one expected. For one thing, there are some fast moments and Barney is still barking. This even though ND is still a band without direction. They love to mellow out and go 'indie' but know that it would not sell. So, unsure of what to do the former grinders attempt a mix. Imagine Napalm Death with melody and a little experimentation. It is better than the Fear Emptiness album, but nowhere near as good as Death By Manipulation for example. - Ali "The Metallian"
NAPALM DEATH - WORDS FROM THE EXIT WOUND - EARACHE
At last here is a sign of life from Earache whose protracted negotiations with Caroline distribution in the United States had cast a few months of silence upon the label. While the establishment of a new distribution agreement is good news for the label, the fact that next to no one has missed the label is surely a reflection of the label's signing policy in the last few years! Almost as bad is the bio getting the band's year of birth/ founding members wrong, but I digress. Well on to the newie from the tried and true Napalm Death whose North American release comes some four months after the discs European release and hence to make the release precious contains three exclusive North American cuts. Much better, to these ears, than the band's last two studio efforts Diatribes and Inside the Torn Apart, the intelligently-named Words From the Exit Wound is probably once again brash enough to satisfy grindcore fanatics. Sure Barney manages to get silly and mimic Fear Factory a couple of seconds, but for the most part this album is trend-free. Not only Napalm continues its tradition of lyrics-with-an-intelligent message, but more importantly the band once again set forth to challenge their younger brethren in the blast arena. A track like The Infiltrator has to be heard to be believed - the paradigm for blast beats incarnate! The Metallian Tower welcomes crushing speed like this any day and so should everyone else out there. Ah, this spring is proving to be an exceptional season for those who like it heavy. - Ali "The Metallian"
NAPALM DEATH - ENEMY OF THE MUSIC BUSINESS - DREAM CATCHER
I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to be Earache Records if a band on the label would leave the label after 13 years and would proceed to name its next full length Enemy of the Music Business. Sounds like Napalm Death still have their heads in the right place after all these years - even if this record has an issuing label, distributor, etc! - which is something that is validated by the grindcore delivered on this album. Gone definitively are the confused mid-nineties when the band was 'progressing' , 'developing' and other such buzz words of the wimp. As with previous full length Words From the Exit Wound this is pure assaulting grindcore with Barney barking atop of a barrage of blasts and buzzing guitars. Apart from a hidden outro then, it's all business here boys and girls. - Ali "The Metallian"
NAPALM DEATH - THE CODE IS RED... LONG LIVE THE CODE - CENTURY MEDIA
The members of Napalm Death have long been known as the kings of grindcore, but the heart of the band's attack has always incorporated hardcore and (real) punk rock. Ergo, the new Napalm record finds the group re-exploring its non-metal roots, The Code Is Red... coming off as a less blast- enraptured affair than the excellent Enemy Of The Music Business and Order Of The Leech, all the while still maintaining the aggro the Brits have stood for since day one. In essence, this record takes the testosterone rages of '80s hardcore pioneers like Minor Threat, the Dead Kennedys (ex-Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra even makes an appearance) and straight-edge mavens Youth Of Today, while juxtaposing that fury into the traditional ND paradigm. Some people are put off by the punk textures and fastfastfast dynamics found here, but I think the change is healthy: you can't blast away forever, and differentiation never did anyone wrong. Imagine the impact The Code Is Red would have imparted had it come out in 1983? That's testament to its appeal, no doubt. - David Perri
NAPALM DEATH - SMEAR CAMPAIGN - CENTURY MEDIA 
Napalm Death has always appealed to two senses. The band's pioneering music has been a boon to fans of the raw and edgy music that pushes the limits of brutality and power, while intelligent and enlightened progressive lyrics and opinions have made the band's albums that much easier to pick up and enjoy - if that word can be used in such a radical context.
Smear Campaign is the album that delivers in both fields. Album number fifteen can be described as one that perpetuates the sound established as early as 1987 on the Scum album, here up-dated and given the 2006 treatment, whilst speaking truth to power via songs like Puritanical Punishment Beating, Freedom Is The Wage Of Sin, Eyes Right Out, Rabid Wolves (For Christ) or Deaf And Dumbstruck (Intelligent Design). The album's cover was more than a hint of course that Napalm's lyricisms and wisdom is as uncompromised as ever, so the music is the added delight here one supposes. The surge of hatred is sandwiched between the Swans/Prong type intro called Weltschmerz and the restrained title track at the end of the album. Bar a couple of contained instances of ambient vocals from singer Greenway reminiscent of the Diatribes era and some input by The Gathering's singer Anneke Van Giersbergen the rest of the material is extreme enough to shame bands half Napalm Death's age. The pure grindcore of the aforementioned Freedom Is The Wage Of Sin, the speed of Sink Fast, Let Go and the driving intensity of Identity Crisis, which is reminiscent of the band's work circa 1992, are perfect examples.
Napalm Death has been back on track for a few years and several albums now and the new release is going to perpetuate the trend. Smear Campaign is undiluted, unabashed and a triumph for the band and the genre. - Ali "The Metallian"
Interviews
When it comes to people you want advice from, Mark “Barney” Greenway of Napalm Death fame is on top of the list. Not only has the man toured the world with his band, but he’s accumulated 15 years of business experience in an industry that is known (renowned, actually) for its backstabbers and two-faced assholes. That aforementioned industry is the music biz, of course, and Greenway is one who has been through enough stress at the hands of indie labels to last a lifetime. A friendly bloke from start to finish (and the rare metal musician who telephoned early instead of late), Greenway told it like it was, is and will be to David Perri over the course of the following Metallian chat promoting new record (and Century Media debut) The Code Is Red… Long Live The Code. – 05.05.2005
METALLIAN: The Century Media deal seems to be a resurgence for the band. It’s almost like Napalm Death has yet another new stab at life.
BARNEY GREENWAY: We’ve been experiencing that kind of resurgence since Enemy Of The Music Business, or even since the first Leaders Not Followers. As for Century Media, credit where credit is due. I’m the first person to criticize record labels, but Century Media has been doing good things. We’ve been walking hand in hand with the label, and that’s a refreshing feeling. It’s crazy to say that after 14 years of shit. With our other labels the help just wasn’t there. If a label or a person is doing good things, then credit where it’s due.
METALLIAN: There seems to be more of an old punk vibe to the new record as opposed to metal or even grind. Why?
BARNEY GREENWAY: That wasn’t entirely intentional; it’s just the way it turned out. We’re always striving to record albums that are raw and on our last few albums we felt the drum sound was too robotic. Recording is always a learning process, and on this one we learned that raw drums were what we needed to accomplish the goal of being less slick. There is a punk vibe on the record, but it’s still essentially grindcore. It’s got all the good elements of a Napalm Death album, and I think there’s also a little bit more of a mix of tempos which is always a good thing.
METALLIAN: How did you get Jello Biafra (ex-Dead Kennedys, Alternative Tentacles Records) on The Code Is Red?
BARNEY GREENWAY: There’s a long association with Jello, as we did some stuff for Alternative Tentacles at one point. Also, of course, the Dead Kennedys were a massive influence. The satire in Jello’s lyrics is genius. He has such a witty observance and witty take on things, especially on the track “Winnebago Warrior”. I mean, who writes lyrics like that anymore? It’s fantastic satire. We’ve also covered “Nazi Punks Fuck Off” and still play it live. So for The Code Is Red I travelled for an hour across the city to go to the studio to oversee Jello’s recording. And the whole time I was thinking, “Why do I need to be here? No one needs to oversee Jello. He knows what he’s fuckin’ doing!” (laughs).
METALLIAN: What wisdom can you impart to newcomers within the music industry?
BARNEY GREENWAY: Wow, big question. Ok, here we go. For a band, this piece of advice is universal and timeless: join you local musicians union! Before you do anything, before you even rehearse, join the union. They will help you with contracts. Contracts can fuck you from the outset, and the union is there to help you through this minefield. People in the industry are such great manipulators. Don’t let them manipulate you, stand up for yourself. Join the union. At the same time, don’t expect the world to fall at your feet. You need to work, you need to initiate, and you need some sort of spark and substance. This applies to any band, extreme or not. If you’re a label, be revolutionary and actually do what you promise you will do. The perfect example of this is Listenable Records. Laurent runs the label and he’s a great guy, he does what he says he’ll do. He’s always there to answer questions and his label has done well because of that. He has a passion for the music, and that’s how you wish everyone would run their label. Here’s a note to record label owners: you’re essentially holding someone else’s balls. At the end of the day, a record label owner can fuck a whole band’s existence. Therefore, you have to have a conscience and realise all this.
METALLIAN: In hindsight, what would you change about Napalm Death’s career trajectory?
BARNEY GREENWAY: I would never have signed to Earache. That’s pretty blunt, but it’s fuckin’ true. Earache’s contract had us on our knees, it was killing us. What really irritates me is bands that still sign to Earache today. They must have shit in their ears, because every band that has been on Earache has something bad to say about them. Entombed, us, Bolt Thrower, Morbid Angel, the list is endless. If it was one or two bands it might be a touch of the sour grapes. But it’s every band. I feel bad for bands that are currently on the label. What’s even worse is that Earache started with good intentions. Earache started off doing flexis and then power and money turned the label and the owner into greedy shitheads.
METALLIAN: You guys are getting on in age. Traditional beliefs would have us think that you’d be mellowing out at this stage, but Napalm Death seems as ferocious as ever. What still fuels your aggression all these years on?
BARNEY GREENWAY: (cuts off question) Sorry to cut you off, but we’re still angry because of the way the world is. Things haven’t changed. We’re still talking about the things the band was discussing at ht beginning of its career. I’m a bit older, but I’m still pissed off! Africa is still pretty fucked. There are major companies that are charging Africans market rate for pharmaceuticals. How can an African country afford that? They’ve got a 50th of the economy that the Western countries do. I’m a humanitarian at heart and my disbelief at the way things happen in this world continues with each year. Increasingly so, actually. Age doesn’t cut it with me. Years shouldn’t take the fire out of your belly. If your rebellion is constructive and it’s not just to piss off your parents, then you should always stay rebellious in order to achieve a better world. And that’s one of my goals in life.
METALLIAN: You quest for a better world is, in essence, a form of positivity. However, you attempt to achieve said positivity via quite aggressive and sometimes violent music. How do you resolve such that juxtaposition?
BARNEY GREENWAY: I don’t resolve it. It’s a good contradiction. We’re deadly serious, but we also have a humorous element. I always have to step back and laugh at the paradoxical nature of our message. It’s violent music but the ethos promotes ideas of equality, tolerance and peace. It’s fantastic that we’re still trying to do that, all these years later.
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