Apex Predator – Easy Meat

Author: Primož Novak

Artist: Napalm Death
Label: Century Media
Release: year_month
Runtime: 39:57
Rating: 3.5/5

The grind metal veterans Napalm Death have earned every bit of respect, no question. This year they hit 35 years of existence, even though the current lineup has been earning its bread in Napalm Death for 25 of them. They’re still actively putting out albums, too. Not as often as they used to, sure, but every three years or so they still manage to cook up a fresh dose of sonic »terrorism«. Granted, the new records don’t reach the quality of their nineties albums, but the band still sticks brilliantly to its trademark style. Three years after the well-received Utilitarian, Napalm Death have come up with a successor that tries to prove once again that, age notwithstanding, they’re still in good shape. So did they pull it off?

The album opens with the title track, which works as a sort of a cappella, backed by tribal percussion. But then Napalm Death explode in their typical style, full of heavy guitars and a battering rhythm section. Vocalist Barney Greenway naturally stays in the leading role, though sadly his growls are nowhere near intelligible. It actually seems like he’s screaming just to fill out the soundscape. On top of that, the guitarist adds some high-pitched screaming, which only underlines the anger and chaos of the whole thing. Fast songs mostly dominate, and guitarist Mitch Harris does occasionally throw in a more death metal-style riff, but murky grind riffs and simple power-chord crust hardcore/punk riffs take over more often. At first glance there’s nothing here that would really grab you, but over time a ray of hope shines through for these legends, who are still standard-bearers of extreme metal today.

There’s no point in claiming the band has run out of steam; they’re mostly just loyal to their principles and their fans. The chaos, aggression and anger are all still there. Napalm Death haven’t mellowed out one bit. The only problem is that the songs are too monotonous. But the situation isn’t hopeless. Granted, with a few exceptions the band no longer has many groovier tracks, but in exchange it offers a slower number here and there, which sets up the morbidity of the subject matter the song deals with. Take »Dear Slumlord« and »Adversial / Copulating Snakes« as examples. In the latter, the morbidity only unfolds after the fast, punchier part of the song. It also features melodic vocals, which can again be seen as an attempt at building atmosphere. That’s not exactly new, though. Napalm Death were already making atmospheric songs in the nineties, which made them stand out quite a bit in the flood of death metal bands back then, and luckily they haven’t given that up even today. In short, Napalm Death aren’t completely down for the count. Sure, pretty much every band that shows up at some underground festival cranks out fast songs these days. Another Napalm Death trademark is their intellectual lyrics, which still criticize social and political conditions.

Either way, the band’s last few albums have a certain consistency to them, which is probably also down to producer Russ Russell, who has worked with the band since Enemy of the Music Business (2000). Back then the band leaned even more toward a modern, polished sound, which was still present on Order of the Leech (2002).  With The Code Is Red … Long Live the Code, the band returned to a dirtier soundscape and also pushed the death metal style slightly aside in favor of grind and hardcore punk. Since then the band has tweaked the sound from »The Code Is Red« a little with each album, but never went overboard with the polish. Napalm Death probably remain one of the rare examples that favor an old-school, filthy sound and stay authentic while doing it.

With Apex Predator – Easy Meat, Napalm Death confirm the style they established more than ten years ago. The band isn’t offering anything new, just staying loyal to a sound that’s chaotic, angry and aggressive. Definitely a record for grind fans.

Lineup

Mark “Barney” Greenway – vocals

Shane Embury – bass

Mitch Harris – guitar, vocals

Danny Herrera – drums

Production

Russ Russell

Tracklist