The fathers of grindcore, Napalm Death pushed the envelope of metal to new extremes of ear-splitting intensity, rejecting all notions of melody, subtlety, and good taste to forge a brand of sonic assault almost frightening in its merciless brutality. Formed in Ipswich, England, in 1982, the group trafficked in the usual heavy metal fare for the first few years of its existence, but by the middle of the decade they began to expand their horizons by incorporating elements of hardcore and thrash into the mix; ultimately, Napalm Death's sonic experiments evolved into a blistering mutation of metal which they dubbed grindcore, a kind of extremist noise attack characterized by incredibly brief song lengths, demonic vocals, and eye-opening sociopolitical lyrical commentary.
Building their reputation on a series of incendiary radio sessions and live dates, Napalm Death set about recording their debut LP,
Scum, issued in 1987 on their own Earache label. A series of lineup changes during production resulted in the record's two sides each containing almost completely different rosters: while the first half featured guitarist
Justin Broadrick and vocalist/bassist
Nick Bullen, the flip side presented new vocalist
Lee Dorrian, guitarist
Bill Steer, and bassist
Jim Whitely; only drummer
Mick Harris played on every track. While largely ignored by the mainstream media,
Scum proved hugely influential throughout the global metal community; among Napalm Death's most public supporters was BBC Radio One DJ
John Peel, who repeatedly played the track "You Suffer" before inviting the group to record a legendary September 1987 Peel Session introducing new bassist
Shane Embury.
With 1988's
From Enslavement to Obliteration, the band grew even more extreme, issuing some 54 total tracks, many of them clocking in at just a few seconds in length. (The compilation
Grind Crusher offered perhaps the ultimate distillation of the aesthetic by including a bonus split single from Napalm Death and
the Electro Hippies with each side lasting just one second; the shortest single ever.) More roster shifts followed, as
Dorrian exited to form
Cathedral and
Steer jumped ship to found
Carcass; with vocalist
Mark "Barney" Greenway (formerly of
Benediction) and guitarists
Jesse Pintado (ex-
Terrorizer) and
Mitch Harris (ex-
Righteous Pigs), Napalm Death resurfaced with 1990's
Harmony Corruption, a nod toward more conventional song structures and a less punishing sound. Apparently unhappy with the results, the group followed later that year with the
Mass-Appeal Madness EP, a return to all-out grindcore fury.
Mick Harris, the only remaining member from the unit's earliest lineups, exited Napalm Death in 1992 to mount an acclaimed ambient dub project named
Scorn; he was replaced by drummer
Danny Herrera for
Utopia Banished, followed by a single covering
the Dead Kennedys' "Nazi Punks Fuck Off." With 1994's
Fear, Emptiness, Despair, Napalm Death earned some of the best critical notices of their career, and to the shock of many even found themselves in the Top Ten of the U.S. pop albums chart by virtue of their appearance on the soundtrack to the motion picture
Mortal Kombat. The
Greed Killing mini-album appeared in 1995 as a teaser for the following year's relatively accessible full-length
Diatribes.
Greenway was subsequently fired in November 1996 and replaced by
Phil Vane of
Extreme Noise Terror; however, after recording a split EP with
Coalesce, the band reconsidered, and
Greenway re-joined in time for the 1997 album
Inside the Torn Apart. Next was 1998's live release
Bootlegged in Japan, trailed early the next year by the well-received
Words From the Exit Wound, which proved to be their final album for Earache. 2000 saw the release of the covers EP
Leaders Not Followers in mid-summer. Napalm Death returned to its early grindcore roots to a degree with its next full-length,
Enemy of the Music Business, which was issued in early 2001.
Blizzard Beasts, Immortal's third album, sounds like a rush job when compared to the rest of the band's triumphant catalog. The majesty of the group's songwriting is buried in the album's subpar production values, which render the potentially brilliant hyperspeed riffing and drum battery gutless and ineffectual. "Nebular Ravens Winter," "Suns That Sank Below," and "Frostdemonstorm" offer a few decent riffs and solid arrangements, and six-minute epic "Mountains of Might" leans toward the black-metal-by-way-of-German-thrash genius of subsequent albums -- but the rest of the record shows little progression from predecessor Battles in the North. Ultimately, Blizzard Beasts should be chalked up as a transitional album in Immortal's mighty career, being the last to feature guitarist and founding member Demonaz (he quit after a bout with tendonitis); bassist/vocalist Abbath would take over six-string and songwriting duties, ultimately leading the band out of blastbeat hell and across more broad-scoped, epic terrain. Still, it's hard to write off Blizzard Beasts as a failure; the record is brilliant when compared to similar Norwegian black metal acts mired in ludicrous "necro" aesthetics, but it just doesn't match up with Immortal's usual balance of underground credibility with high production and songwriting standards.
