Fine wine. Cheese. Napalm Death. No, this is not the ingredients for the world’s most unpleasant dish, but rather a selection of things that seem to get better with age. As well as being one of the very best live experiences you will ever get to see, after all of these years, line-up changes and – well, frankly – the ravages of time – Napalm Death don’t seem to be getting any more mellow or tired. I remember having a conversation with a music loving uncle, who had always been a lover of the heavier side of music, who told me that as I got older, I’d start to crave non-contentious, safe, comforting music.
This turned out not to be true.
I’ve grown up with Napalm Death. I can remember when they were first on the scene, and the scratching of heads in the print music media at the time. The time when they seemed to be a novelty act, then a by-word for all things heavy. The noisy separation of the band from Barney, and the reconciliation. The major label flirtation and the renaissance. This mini-album sees the band as ferocious as they have ever been, and showing their influences on their sleeves. Opener “Narcissus” is a nasty, brutish but undeniably catchy number that’s going to be a massive hit when played live. Following track “Resentment always simmers” is a deliberate, droning almost industrial song that delivers what it promises – a simmering black mood that builds to a resent-and-release crescendo. “By Proxy” is hardcore punk on cheap industrial energy drinks, all fury and chords being flogged into service. “People Pie”, a cover of industrial rock band SLAB! Is one of the most experimental songs that Napalm have released in many years, coming across like the secret track on the Crow soundtrack that you never knew existed. It’s a catchy enough number, but not one which I am going to be anxious to repeat too many times, in truth.
“Man Bites Dogged” is a quirky mix of punked-up rock and semi-thrash riffage, with that trademark dash of unhinged aggression. “Slaver through a repeat performance” could very easily have sat as one of the stronger tracks of either of the veteran’s last two album numbers, with perhaps the strongest vocal performance of Barney on the album, providing real energy and passion in his delivery. “Don’t Need It” is a Bad Brains cover, which – blink and you’ll miss it – is done and dusted within about a minute. Final number, the title track of the album, is “Resentment is always Seismic”. Speaking of the mini album and title track, Barney said, “These songs are pretty much an extension of the last album, but there’s a lot of crazy stuff on there and we really went for it.” With the title track, Shane punted the idea of doing a remix, and I thought yeah, why not? We’ve always shared a love of things like Coil, and all that dark, soundscape stuff, so I was quite happy for him to do that. Him and Russ [Russell, producer] built the track, with all kinds of inanimate objects being thrown around in very unsavoury ways! [Laughs] It turned out really fucking good.” This really is the soundscape of any major city after dark. If you ever needed to know what a really busy and unpleasant night shift for any emergency services staff member sounded like, Napalm Death somehow managed to produce it here. Remarkably disturbing audio picture of simmering resentment achieved.
As mini-albums go, this is a good one. They occupy a strange space – not quite an album, and too long to be an EP, but give a taster of what was left over from the last release and a sneak preview of how future works might turn out. What it does prove, without a shadow of a doubt, is that Napalm Death are still very much alive and kicking.
(8/10 Chris Davison)
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