Artist: Napalm Death
Label: Century Media
Release: 2006
Rating: 3.5/5
The inventors of that horrifying rock creature called “grindcore,” active since 1981, originally punks who gradually absorbed elements of the British “hardcore” sound (Discharge and the like…) and permanently wired it to their own umbilical cord, into a completely independent, uniquely avant-garde take on rock music, marked in bold capitals by two attributes: fastest and most extreme - the grandfathers of “grindcore,” Napalm Death, are on a full gallop and, barely a year and a half after their last studio release, serve up another new album. And with it they stay absolutely true to their extremes!
“Smear Campaign” is the second studio album the band has put out as a four-piece and also their second for Century Media. Plainly put, it’s the best grindcore album Napalm Death have made since “Utopia Banished”. Last year’s “The Code Is Red… Long Live The Code” was already considered fantastic, yet the new record adds another upgrade on its predecessor while following it fully in terms of production, which means the great working chemistry the band had on the last record has stayed untouched. The band spent the nineties flirting with directions dictated by elements of death metal, and that period isn’t exactly cherished in the eyes of the “grindcore” fan. But with the album “Enemy Of The Music Business” and onward, Napalm Death increasingly returned to their recognizable standards, the ones they established themselves, and started heading back to musical turf they know and practically own with their little finger. “Smear Campaign” is thus the epitome of grindcore – charged with eruptive extremes of blast-beat tonnage, the merciless rage of the vocals, and an overall feel that takes us in a far more direct way toward punk and British hardcore than, say, toward metal.
The sound of “Smear Campaign” is an incredible foldout! In its snapshot form it spans the band’s entire career. A few tracks could easily slot onto “Utopia Banished” or “From Enslavement To Obliteration,” and what’s even more incredible is that Napalm Death don’t try to be “modern” in the new sound, nor retro either! That leads to the conclusion that on “Smear Campaign” they’re actually delivering a timeless sound of their new face. Even though, after 25 years of existence, Napalm Death have today hit their peak in terms of speed, execution and songwriting, they carefully keep all of their crusty gnarliness, and not just that of their own foundations, but, generally speaking, the foundations of the entire “grindcore” scene.
Napalm Death have always opened every album with an intro, and “Smear Campaign” follows the tradition. If we look back at the opening tracks of previous albums, their job was to thoroughly prep the listener through a gradually building atmosphere until your brain melted with feather-light ease and poured into the birth of the hell that the first song of every record unleashed right after the intro. And yet the opening of the new album is a surprising departure from tradition. Weltschmerz is a different kind of intro. The band used keyboards and acoustic sound palettes for the first time in their career, there are spoken-word samples too, but it’s all draped in ominous guitar clang that rustles around and embraces the whole puzzle of sounds. What also stands out in the intro is the female vocal drifting in from somewhere in the background of the whole soundscape, contributed by Anneke Van Giersbergen (vocals – The Gathering). But so that none of this has an accidental, unwanted sugary effect, the band immediately, with the first song after the intro, Sink Fast, Lets Go, leads the listener toward familiar frequencies, with the creation of a massive sound, soaked in devastating machine-gunning blast beats and the devilishly hooligan neighing of half-step-down-tuned guitars.
The vocals are, of course, alongside the outstanding drumming, which reaches top-notch quality in its many-colored expression, the main attraction of the sound, and Napalm Death have pushed the limit of extremity in the vocal sound of the new record yet another step up, and the vocal, in its hellish raging, easily reaches the wrath of “Barney” Greenway, leading to the outpouring of the blackest (not green!!!) bile attack you can possibly imagine. The rest of the album also rolls on at the tempo of that breakneck “fury,” and the songs are sprinkled with devastatingly fast transitional bits, a staple of the band. When All Is Said And Done eases off a little in the otherwise unrelenting ultra-fast grip of the record, and a touch more melody sneaks onto the album, trying to imitate even the song Shine by Pro-Pain. Even so, Napalm Death keep their distinctly bristling, brutal stance fully intact here too. Only at a few points do Napalm Death allow themselves a pinch of infidelity, a couple of “jumps over the fence.” The standout here is In Deference, featuring Anneke Van Giersbergen on vocals, who brings in melody with her singing in a catchy, easy-to-listen-to format, tastefully blended into the characteristics of Barney’s growling (“growls”) and screaming. Besides that track, the album’s closer, the title track, also deviates a bit, with a slower “doomy” ring built in here and there and a bit of added vocal color reminiscent of the one in Alchemist. In all the other material, it’s hard to find moments that would slow down the “Napalm Death-style” fury and recognizability in any way. Both the intro (entirely) and the closing title track (partly) are atmospherically gloomy, and the opening section is surprising in its dose of darkness, since while listening you at first catch even Celtic Frost creeping onto the horizon.
“Smear Campaign” is an excellent album! It’s the evolutionary culmination point of the effort the band has poured in over all the years of its existence through its development and musical innovation. It’s even the album with the most “experiments” (and with that word we stay within the Napalm Death frame of reference!!!), yet fans of all of the band’s creative periods will successfully identify with it. Political messages once again reign over the album. “Smear Campaign” is Napalm Death’s testament to maturity, on which the guys wisely combine all the intensity and power, through the rage and fervor of delivering new material, with the best elements of their discography. “Smear Campaign” is thus the finest possible definition of “grindcore.” And to top it all off, the makers of this record are actually the fathers of the genre. Welcome home!
Line-up
Mark “Barney” Greenway – vocals
Mitch Harris – guitar, backing vocals
Shane Embury – bass
Danny Herrera – drums
GUEST MUSICIAN:
Anneke van Giersbergen – vocals on Weltschmerz and In Deference
Production
Russ Russell
Track list
1. Weltschmerz (1:27)
2. Sink Fast, Let Go (3:22)
3. Fatalist (2:50)
4. Puritanical Punishment Beating (3:25)
5. When All Is Said and Done (3:00)
6. Freedom Is the Wage of Sin (3:08)
7. In Deference (3:13)
8. Short-Lived (3:05)
9. Identity Crisis (2:43)
10. Shattered Existence (3:10)
11. Eyes Right Out (3:13)
12. Call That An Option? (3:01)*
13. Warped Beyond Logic (1:59)
14. Rabid Wolves (For Christ) (1:23)
15. Deaf And Dumbstruck (Intelligent Design) (2:45)
16. Persona Non Grata (2:46)
17. Smear Campaign (2:47)
18. Atheist Runt (6:39) *
Running time: 45:09
* bonus tracks included on the limited edition
