NAPALM DEATH

The songs are, again, very social concerned. Lee Dorrian shoots at every target he can think of (machism in "i't's a M.A.N.S. world!", Rock 'n' Roll alienation with "Cock-Rock Alienation" and animal abuse/use with "Display to me..."). His lyrics were what made Napalm Death popular among the StraightXEdge/Punk hardcore community so fast. He was (and I hope he still IS) very socially aware, and more than just pointing the worlds problem's, Mr. Dorrian was making ethics and moral statements as well. In songs like "Think for a minute..." he shows that change comes from the inside. You must be critic about yourself and always question your acts. To be a better person is to see, to learn, to help.

Just like "SCUM", this record is one of the landmarks of grind, in the sense that it set the footsteps of how aggressive, fast and brutal grindcore could, and should be. The mix of speed punk and filthy metal riffs were the catalisers of thousands of imitators, this was (together with SCUM, both were released with very little time in between) the record that popularized death metal and the grindcore genre, making it almost successful in the mainstream (in the late 80's/early 90's, remember?). The sound quality and the production are much better than Scum's , so it is basically the same kind of grind but with a better, more polished sound. Even if this is maniacally too intense, sonicly graphic, disturbing or noisy for you, you should OWN this record for historical purposes. Napalm Death made, by releasing FETO, a whole new generation of death/grind bands follow their style. And this record was (and is) one of the main influences of distinc acts such as Carcass, japanese noise/industrial/electronic master Merzbow, The Boredoms, Jazz/grind combo Candiria and Jazz/Avant-Garde musician John Zorn.

Joaquim C. Ghirotti (courtesy of Twisting the Knife (Slowly) website)

Napalm Death's second full effort, From Enslavement to Obliteration in ways put the seal on what the band had done, with most of its members going off to pursue their own individual efforts soon thereafter, and as such is the perfect complement to Scum, showing the quartet both straining at the bit and honing its original approach to a T. Like Scum, it starts on a more deliberate pace, with "Evolved as One" hitting a slow, careful trudge — everything is quite discernible, even Lee Dorrian's sore-throat roar style of singing — which is all the better to build up the listener for whatever happens next. That combination of just enough variety with nuclear-strength ultimate velocity feedback, clatter, and barking once again does the trick; if it wasn't quite as thrillingly new as before, it's still unquestionably grand, making this album the Leave Home to the original's Ramones, if one likes. The song titles once again make it clear that fluffy bunnies aren't the band's subject du jour: "Unchallenged Hate," "Mentally Murdered," "Retreat to Nowhere," "Make Way!" There's a little bit of wry humor starting to surface at points, though — thus "Cock-Rock Alienation," which somehow manages to be a critique of the modern music business' interest in sheep-like consumers even while blurring along in the expected fashion. Those moments where the band finds a more straightforward thrash-stomp once again show that the quartet could nail that when they desired, but as always it's when the group completely goes beyond the conventions that things just completely hit a new hit. Crazy high point: the four-second solo on "Uncertainty Blurs the Vision," which compacts a feedback shriek of ecstasy into the smallest possible space. [Early CD versions of the album included Scum and other extra tracks, though the two are now usually found separately.]

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

Ned Raggett (courtesy of All Music Guide website)