Napalm Death is an intricate beast of a band. Within the boundaries of grindcore and death metal, they’re one of the most respected bands in the genres’ histories. Yet they’ve spent their entire career pushing those very boundaries, peppering in elements of various genres to expand their sonic palette. On some albums it shows more than others. Their latest, Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism, is one of them.
I got into Napalm Death the way most did, through their classic debut, Scum (1987). As a young teenage metalhead preoccupied with thrash, this took the cake for the fastest, angriest, most cathartic thing I had ever heard up until that point. It even made Cannibal Corpse, Carcass, and the other death metal bands I was getting into at the time, sound tame in comparison. When reading the Decibel Hall of Fame article for this landmark release, I remember being confused when (I believe) Shane Embury name dropped bands like Swans, The Birthday Party, Killing Joke, and Big Black as pivotal to the development of grind. In my undeveloped mind, this bands weren’t even metal, let alone “grind”. But as time went on and I dug further into Napalm Death’s catalog, I learned that they weren’t just another “metal band”. They took as much from punk, noise, goth, and any other outsider music as they did metal.
Never before has this “alternative” influence been more evident. There’s two tracks of harsh industrial soundscapes, “Joie De Ne Pas Vivre” and “A Bellyful of Salt and Spleen”. My choice cut, “Amoral”, sees Napalm Death go goth. Surprisingly, it works! With its cold atmosphere, pulsating dance beat, and snarling vocal delivery, it sounds less like Napalm Death and more like a lost Killing Joke single that’d get airplay on a John Peel program. Even the straightforward grind tracks display a shade of dissonance in the riffs. This must be the “noisy elements” the band was teasing leading up to the album’s release.
Now if you’re a straight up metal purist, there’s no need to panic. Amidst all the experimentation throughout, the classic deathgrind formula laid down on Harmony Corruption (1990) remains strong, albeit modernized. The spastic blur of “That Curse of Being in Thrall”, the thrashy grind of “Acting in Gouged Faith”, and the blackened vitriol of “Fuck the Factoid”, prove that Napalm Death still has an axe to grind all these years later. Add to this brutal music the equally brutal lyrics of social unrest and you’ve got a Napalm Death record.
The thing about Napalm Death is that even on the albums I don’t care for, I can still find something to appreciate about them. I’m sure I’m in the minority when I say they’re a band who’s never released a bad album. It’s going to take a few listens for Throes to grow on me, but I appreciate these extreme music veterans’ ability to break new artistic ground this far into their career. 2020 has been a cold, unforgiving year. Leave it to Napalm Death to provide the soundtrack to a society descending into the unforgiving grips of insanity.
6 out of 10
Label: Century Media Records
Genre: Death Metal/Grindcore
For fans of: Brutal Truth, Anaal Nathrakh, Killing Joke