| Napalm Death |
Article Index for Napalm |
Website Links For Napalm Death |
Information AboutNapalm Death |
|
Members of Napalm Death have moved on to form bands such as Carcass , Godflesh , Cathedral , and Scorn . Additionally band members have formed numerous side projects, including Painkiller , Brujeria , Lock Up , Meathook Seed and Jesu . Although Napalm Death was the first band who actually coined the word " Grindcore " to classify and define the type of music that they played, others had previously played very similar music. Groups such as Siege , Larm , Heresy and Cryptic Slaughter were also playing a similar fast and brutal style of music. However, Napalm Death cemented the fusion of punk aggression, high velocity tempo, metallic production and deep gutteral vocals that later became synonymous with the " Grindcore " genre. BIOGRAPHY Early history 1982-1986 Napalm Death started in the village of Meriden near Birmingham , in the United Kingdom , in 1982 . The band was formed by Nic Bullen and Miles Ratledge who were still at school at the time (they were 13 and 14 respectively). The duo had been playing in 'bedroom' bands since 1980 as an extension of their fanzine writing and went through many names including "Civil Defence", "The Mess", "Evasion" and "Undead Hatred" before they settled on Napalm Death at the beginning of 1982. The band were initially inspired by the early wave of punk bands, particularly the was a sub-genre of punk music which was focused on extreme left-wing anarchist politics. The band recorded a number of demo tapes in 1982 and 1983, one of which contributed their first studio recording to the '' Bullshit Detector Volume 3'' compilation released by Crass Records in 1984. However, the band had reached a point of stasis by the end of 1983, and only played 1 concert in 1984 (a benefit for the Miner's Strike which was occurring at the time in Britain). Meanwhile, a young guitarist from Birmingham called Justin Broadrick was playing music under the name "Final". Nic Bullen met Broadrick at a record and tape cassette stall in the Rag Market in Birmingham in early 1983 where they bonded over a shared interest in groups such as Killing Joke , Throbbing Gristle , Crass , Amebix and the developing "Power Electronics" scene. Nic Bullen joined the "Final" project for a period in 1983, and later asked Justin Broadrick to join Napalm Death as a guitarist when the band reformed after a hiatus in mid-1985. The band began to blend a mixture of the post-punk of Killing Joke and Amebix with heavy punk in the vein of Discharge and the thrash metal scene led by groups such as Possessed and Celtic Frost . The band recorded a demo ''Hatred Surge'' in 1985. Following the recording of the demo (and numerous concerts through the later half of 1985), Bullen and Broadrick decided that they wished to pursue a more extreme form of their music which was not to the taste of Ratledge. As a result, the group splintered and Mick Harris , a local fan, was admitted into the band as the drummer in December 1985. The band then became a three-piece, with Bullen focused on vocals and bass, Broadrick on guitar and Harris on drums. "It became more metal influenced as the three of us played more," said Harris. The band played many concerts through 1986, recording a demo "From Enslavement to Obliteration" in March 1986 and then recording another demo which later became the first side of the band's debut album ''Scum'' in 1986 . The demo was financed by Digby Pearson , owner of the small label " Earache Records ". However, Napalm Death was about to undertake a number of line-up changes. Bullen was becoming frustrated with the direction of the group (which was moving towards a more 'metal' style) and began to lose interest. He initially decided to stop playing bass (so a new new bassist - Jim Whiteley - joined) in order to focus on vocals. During a show with brutal but more industrial band Head Of David , Broadrick received an offer to play with them provided he leave Napalm Death for good. Being a Head of David fan, he did not think twice before leaving Napalm Death for good and joining Head of David on drums (he would later go on to play in Godflesh as well). Napalm Death was now without a guitarist. After Broadrick's departure, Bullen lost all interest in the project and stopped attending rehearsals in December 1986. He shifted his focus away from music towards his studies and went to university to study English Literature and Philosophy. 1987-1989 Shortly after Broadrick left, Bullen left as well. So they had to look for new members. Guitarist . With this line-up they recorded what was to become the B side of ''Scum'' in the Rich Bitch studios in May 1987. The result was finally released through Earache. This classic attempt against logical musical structure and good taste features seminal Grindcore classics such as "Dragnet", "Mind Control", and " You Suffer ". Shortly thereafter, the band went on tour. Napalm Death lost another member. Whitely left just before the tour for ''Scum''. Enter Shane Embury , an avid Napalm Death fan and formerly known as the drummer for Unseen Terror . After this small line-up change, they took part in two compilations (North atlantic noise attack and the Pathological), recorded two Peel sessions and a Split 7" with Japan ese grinders S.O.B. . On top of that, they went to Rich Bitch Studio once more and recorded their second album: ''From Enslavement To Obliteration''. Very much in the same vein of the second half of ''Scum'', ''From Enslavement To Obliteration'' differs as far as production goes, but that is about it. Following the release, Napalm Death had a participation on BBC 's Arena Heavy Metal Special, which proved how successful the band could be. The band went on touring around the world for a while, but as soon as they came back home from Japan , in July 1989 , Steer and Dorrian left the band. Steer decided to dedicate himself full-time to Carcass, while Dorrian formed the Doom Metal outfit Cathedral Soon enough the remaining members contacted Jesse Pintado (ex- Terrorizer ). A new singer, Mark "Barney" Greenway , who sung in the Death Metal act Benediction was also called, and immediately joined. After recruiting new members, the band took part of the Grindcrusher Tour , with fellow labelmates Carcass , Bolt Thrower and Morbid Angel . After the touring, they called in a second guitarrist, Mitch Harris (ex Righteous Pigs ), and soon started writing new songs with this line-up. They went to the American death metal producer Scott Burns who lives and works in Florida and records mostly in the Morrisound Studio. 1990-1994 In Florida, they started working on their next album: ''Harmony Corruption''. While writing ''Harmony Corruption'' they changed their style a little, from grindcore, to a mix of good old sonic Blast Beat s and some slower, more rhythmic parts. It was much more death metal influenced than the previous albums, and it was a good progression as far as the compositions went. After releasing the new record, they went on touring around the world and from the material filmed at those concerts they released a home-video, ''Live Corruption''. Then, Mick Harris wanted to change the band, to which the band opposed. And so Harris was forced to quit Napalm Death. An thus far unknown American drummer was brought in to replace him, called Danny Herrera . Napalm Death released a new record, ''Utopia Banished''. Now working with producer Colin Richardson . This release was a kind of "return to the roots" - grindcore. After recording ''The World Keeps Turning'' EP, the band toured Europe with Dismember and Obituary on the "Campaign for Musical Destruction" tour. The tour continued in the US, where Napalm Death played with Cathedral , Carcass and Brutal Truth . Thereafter, they went to the studio and recorded ''Fear, Emptiness, Despair''. Now this was a major change. In spite of keeping all the heaviness and aggression, the new record sounded rather different. It was clear that they were trying to make their sound more modern. More rhythmic riffs and an industrial-like structure, mixed with some good old grindcore Blast Beat s were the main ingredients of the album. Live concerts with Entombed , Obituary and Machine Head showed the audience how violent and aggressive the new Napalm Death sound was. 1994 onwards The ''Greed killing'' EP was the next release from the band, through Earache. After the preview with the EP, ''Diatribes'', a full-length album was released. Although things seemed to be going smoothly from outside, they were going through problems. Misunderstanding between the members and lead singer Greenway being expelled from the band in late/mid 1996. Greenway went to record with Extreme Noise Terror (the ENT release ''Damage 381'' features Barney on lead vocals) and ENT's main singer Phil Vane went to fill vocals slot in Napalm Death. Things did not go as well as they were supposed to, and Vane was kicked out of the band just before they got into the studio to record the new album. And so Greenway returned to Napalm Death. The next album ''Inside The Torn Apart'' which took a step back from the experimentation and displayed the first signs of a return to the good-old grindcore approach. This return was completed with the release of ''Enemy Of The Music Business''. It shows their anger with the music industry and especially with Earache. ''Order Of The Leech'' continued where their previous album ended and can be seen as even more aggressive. In 2004, they recorded a covers album called ''Leaders Not Followers: Part 2'', the sequel to their earlier covers EP. It contains covers of old Hardcore Punk and Heavy Metal bands, including Cryptic Slaughter , Massacre , Kreator , Sepultura , Hirax and Discharge . Due to personal problems, Pintado did not play on either ''Order of the Leech'' or ''Leaders Not Followers Pt. 2'', and left the band in early 2004 . And in April 2005, the new album ''The Code is Red... Long Live the Code'' is released. It features guest appearances of Jeffrey Walker (formerly of Carcass), Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed vocalist) and Jello Biafra (formerly of Dead Kennedys). The album continues the band's progressive approach to their brutal brand of extreme metal, with their trademark grindcore sound retained. MEMBERS Current lineup
Past members
DISCOGRAPHY
Compilations
TRIVIA
EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|