Napalm Death - Order Of The Leech
2002 - FETO Records
By Philip Whitehouse.
Go to the Napalm Death website.
Pray, all you lapsed Napalm Death fans. Put behind you the memories of the Birmingham grindcore gods' slower, death metal experimentations throughout the mid-nineties. Recall ND at their finest, on the groundbreaking Harmony Corruption and From Enslavement To Obliteration records. Got that? Good. Now imagine them faster, hungrier, heavier and more intense than that.
Sound impossible? Well, that's what they've delivered with latest platter, Order Of The Leech. Easily the best thing they've recorded since the aforementioned FETO album, calling 'Order Of The Leech' a return to form would be an understatement akin to calling America's last shuttle launch 'a bit of a cock-up'.
The boys go right for the throat from the word 'go' with the blindingly fast 'Continuing War On Stupidity', and also showcase their return to penning lyrics that highlight their political leanings - the album title itself is a reference to the monarchy, and the track here mentioned is a direct damnation of the 'War On Terror'. You can quite happily ignore all this is you wish though, since Barney Greenaway's guttural roaring is still as harshly incomprehensible as ever.
The other Napalm members are on top form too - the riffs blaze out from twin guitars locked in near perfect synchronicity, backed up by Shane Embury's lightning bass playing and Danny Herrera's frankly stunning sticksmanship. Each roar is a call to arms, each blastbeat a pace set for your pulse to match.
Truly, a fantastic album from possibly the most important British band in extreme metal. Hopefully they'll continue to get the recognition they deserve, after a wake-up call as effective as this.
10/10
2002 - FETO Records
By Philip Whitehouse.
Go to the Napalm Death website.
Pray, all you lapsed Napalm Death fans. Put behind you the memories of the Birmingham grindcore gods' slower, death metal experimentations throughout the mid-nineties. Recall ND at their finest, on the groundbreaking Harmony Corruption and From Enslavement To Obliteration records. Got that? Good. Now imagine them faster, hungrier, heavier and more intense than that.
Sound impossible? Well, that's what they've delivered with latest platter, Order Of The Leech. Easily the best thing they've recorded since the aforementioned FETO album, calling 'Order Of The Leech' a return to form would be an understatement akin to calling America's last shuttle launch 'a bit of a cock-up'.
The boys go right for the throat from the word 'go' with the blindingly fast 'Continuing War On Stupidity', and also showcase their return to penning lyrics that highlight their political leanings - the album title itself is a reference to the monarchy, and the track here mentioned is a direct damnation of the 'War On Terror'. You can quite happily ignore all this is you wish though, since Barney Greenaway's guttural roaring is still as harshly incomprehensible as ever.
The other Napalm members are on top form too - the riffs blaze out from twin guitars locked in near perfect synchronicity, backed up by Shane Embury's lightning bass playing and Danny Herrera's frankly stunning sticksmanship. Each roar is a call to arms, each blastbeat a pace set for your pulse to match.
Truly, a fantastic album from possibly the most important British band in extreme metal. Hopefully they'll continue to get the recognition they deserve, after a wake-up call as effective as this.
10/10
