Background information
Origin	Birmingham, England, UK
Genre(s)	Hardcore punk (early recordings) Grindcore Death metal Deathgrind
Years active	1981 – present
Label(s)	Century Media Spitfire Records Earache Records
Website	Official website
Members
Mark "Barney" Greenway Shane Embury Mitch Harris Danny Herrera
Former members
Nic Bullen Miles Ratledge Justin Broadrick Jesse Pintado (deceased) Lee Dorrian Bill Steer Jim Whiteley Mick Harris

Napalm Death are a highly influential grindcore/death metal band formed in the village of Meriden near Birmingham, England in 1981 by Nicholas Bullen and Miles Ratledge.

The group are generally acknowledged as the group that invented the "Grindcore" genre, a fusion of thrash metal and hardcore punk. Although Napalm Death were the first band to classify and define their music as "Grindcore" (the band used the word 'Grind' to connote a certain style of playing and approach to music), other groups had previously played similar music including Siege, Lärm, Heresy, NYC Mayhem, Repulsion, and Cryptic Slaughter. However, Napalm Death united and cemented the fusion of punk aggression, high velocity tempo, metallic production and deep guttural vocals that later became synonymous with the "Grindcore" genre.

There are no original members left in the band: indeed, the early history of the band is one of constant member rotation - by the second side of their debut album Scum, they did not contain any original members. Members of Napalm Death have moved on to form bands such as Carcass, Godflesh, Cathedral, Scorn, Jesu and Black Galaxy. Additionally, band members have formed numerous side projects, including Lull, Painkiller, Brujeria, Lock Up, Meathook Seed, Defecation, Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine, Venomous Concept.

Napalm Death are listed by Nielsen Soundscan as the seventh best-selling death metal band of all time.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early history 1982-1986 1.2 1987-1989 1.3 1990-1994 1.4 1995-2004 1.5 2005 onwards 2 Members 2.1 Current lineup 2.2 Past members 2.2.1 Vocals 2.2.2 Guitar 2.2.3 Bass 2.2.4 Drums 3 Discography 4 Trivia 5 References 6 External links

Biography

Early history 1982-1986

Napalm Death started in the village of Meriden near Birmingham, in the United Kingdom, in December 1981. The band was formed by Nic Bullen and Miles Ratledge who were still at school at the time (they were 13 and 14). The duo had been playing in "bedroom" bands since 1980 as an extension of their fanzine writing, and went through many names including "Civil Defence", "The Mess", "Evasion" and "Undead Hatred" before they settled on Napalm Death at the beginning of 1982. The band were initially inspired by the early wave of punk bands, particularly the anarcho-punk movement, which included artists such as Crass, Flux of Pink Indians, Rudimentary Peni, The Rondos and The Ex: anarcho-punk was a sub-genre of punk music which was focused on anarchist politics. They recorded a number of demo tapes in 1982 and 1983, one of which contributed their first released recording to the Bullshit Detector Volume 3 compilation released by Crass Records in 1984. However, the band had reached a point of stasis by the end of 1983, and only played one concert in 1984 (a benefit for the Miners' Strike which was occurring at the time in Britain).

Concurrently, a young guitarist from Birmingham called Justin Broadrick was playing music under the name "Final". Nic Bullen met Broadrick at a record and tape cassette stall in the Rag Market in Birmingham in early 1983 where they bonded over a shared interest in groups such as Killing Joke, Throbbing Gristle, Crass, Amebix, Swans and the developing "Power Electronics" scene. Nic Bullen joined the "Final" project for a period in 1983, and later asked Justin Broadrick to join Napalm Death as a guitarist when the band reformed after a hiatus in mid-1985. The band began to blend a mixture of the post-punk of Killing Joke and Amebix with heavy punk in the vein of Discharge and the thrash metal scene led by groups such as Possessed and Celtic Frost, and recorded a demo Hatred Surge in October 1985.

Following the recording of the demo (and numerous concerts through the latter half of 1985), Bullen and Broadrick decided that they wished to pursue a more extreme form of their music which was not to the taste of Ratledge. As a result, the group splintered and Mick Harris(a local fan) was admitted into the band as the drummer in December 1985. The band - now a three-piece featuring Bullen on vocals and bass, Broadrick on guitar and Harris on drums - began to explore their desire to increase the extremity in their music.

The band played many concerts through 1986, recording a demo "From Enslavement to Obliteration" in March 1986 and then recording another demo which later became the first side of the band's debut album Scum in 1986.

However, Napalm Death was about to undertake a number of line-up changes. Nic Bullen was becoming frustrated with the direction of the group (which was moving towards a style influenced more by American Thrash Metal and Death Metal groups) and began to lose interest: as a result, Jim Whiteley joined as bass player. The band played a number of concerts as a 4-piece before Justin Broadrick left the group: he had received an offer to play the drums for local band Head of David on condition that he'd leave Napalm Death.

The group entered a short period where they attempted to find a new guitarist which included asking Shane Embury to join (which he refused because he was too nervous!) and trialling Frank healey (later of Cerebral Fix and Sacrilege) who had been playing with local thrash metal band Annihilator with whom Napalm Death had shared concerts in the early part of 1986. After Broadrick's departure, Nic Bullen felt that he had gone as far as he could with the band and stopped attending rehearsals in December 1986: he shifted his focus away from music towards his studies and went to university to study English Literature and Philosophy.

1987-1989

With the departure of Broadrick and Bullen, the band had to look for new members. Guitarist Bill Steer played in a band based in Liverpool, called Carcass and given the affinity between the bands, he joined Napalm Death while still playing an active role in Carcass. The band asked a friend (Lee Dorrian) to join as vocalist due to his good relationship with the band (he had organised a number of concerts for the band), even though he had never been in a band before. With this line-up they recorded what was to become the B side of Scum in the Rich Bitch studios in May 1987. The result was finally released through Earache. This classic attempt against perceived logical musical structure features seminal Grindcore classics such as "Dragnet", "Control", and "You Suffer".

The band promptly lost another member just before they undertook a short tour after the release of Scum : Jim Whitely left due to his dissatisfaction with the attitude of another member of the band. Shane Embury - former drummer of Unseen Terror and an avid fan of the band - joined on bass. The band then appeared on two compilation records (North atlantic noise attack and the Pathological), recorded two Peel sessions and a Split 7" with Japanese grinders S.O.B.. They also returned to Rich Bitch studio once more and recorded their second album: From Enslavement to Obliteration.

Very much in the same vein of the second half of Scum, From Enslavement to Obliteration differs only as far as production goes. Following the release, Napalm Death had a participation on BBC's Arena Heavy Metal Special, which proved how successful the band could be. The band went on touring around the world for a while, but as soon as they came back home from Japan, in July 1989, Steer and Dorrian left the band, again due to dissatisfaction with the attitude of another band member. Steer decided to dedicate himself full-time to Carcass, while Dorrian formed the doom metal outfit Cathedral. Soon enough the remaining members contacted Jesse Pintado (ex-Terrorizer). A new singer, Mark "Barney" Greenway, who sung in the death metal act Benediction was also called, and immediately joined.

After recruiting new members, the band took part of the Grindcrusher tour, with fellow labelmates Carcass, Bolt Thrower and Morbid Angel. After the touring, they called in a second guitarist, Mitch Harris (ex-Righteous Pigs), and soon started writing new songs with this line-up. They went to the American death metal producer Scott Burns who lives and works in Florida and records mostly in the Morrisound Recording studio.

1990-1994

In Florida, they started working on their next album, Harmony Corruption. While writing Harmony Corruption they changed their style a little, from grindcore, to a mix of blast beats and some slower, more rhythmic parts. In addition, death metal was a major influence on Harmony Corruption, more so than their previoius records. After releasing the new record, they went on touring around the world and from the material filmed at those concerts they released a home-video, Live Corruption.

Drummer Mick Harris eventually left Napalm Death because of conflicts regarding their musical style. Danny Herrera, a close friend to Jesse Pintado, was brought in to replace Mick. Napalm Death released a new record, Utopia Banished. Now working with producer Colin Richardson. This release was a kind of "return to the roots" - grindcore.

After recording The World Keeps Turning EP, the band toured Europe with Dismember and Obituary on the "Campaign for Musical Destruction" tour. The tour continued in the US, where Napalm Death played with Cathedral, Carcass and Brutal Truth.

Thereafter, they went to the studio and recorded Fear, Emptiness, Despair. Although it was still as heavy and aggressive as ever, the new record took a different direction and sounded more experimental; they added more rhythmic riffs, an industrial-like structure, and then added grindcore blast beats. Live concerts with Entombed, Obituary and Machine Head showed the audience how violent and aggressive the new Napalm Death sound was. They continued with the experimentation through the rest of the 1990s.

1995-2004

The Greed Killing EP was the next release from the band, through Earache. After the preview with the EP, Diatribes, a full-length album was released. Although things seemed to be going smoothly from outside, they were going through problems. Misunderstanding rose between the members and singer Greenway was expelled from the band in late/mid 1996. Greenway went to record with Extreme Noise Terror (the ENT release Damage 381 features Barney on lead vocals) and ENT's main singer Phil Vane went to fill vocals slot in Napalm Death. Things did not go as well as they were supposed to, and Vane was kicked out of the band just before they got into the studio to record the new album. And so Greenway returned to Napalm Death.

The next albums Inside the Torn Apart and Words from the Exit Wound continued with the experimentation but displayed more signs of grindcore, notably faster tempos than the last two albums. This return was completed with the release of Enemy of the Music Business. It shows their anger with the music industry and especially with Earache. Order of the Leech continued where their previous album ended and can be seen as even more faster and aggressive.

In 2004, they recorded a covers album called Leaders Not Followers: Part 2, the sequel to their earlier covers EP. It contains covers of old hardcore punk and heavy metal bands, including Cryptic Slaughter, Massacre, Kreator, Sepultura, Siege and Discharge.

Due to personal problems, Jesse Pintado did not play on either Order of the Leech or Leaders Not Followers: Part 2, and left the band in early 2004. Nevertheless Pintado stated that he left because he grew tired of Napalm Death and wanted to start something new. The two guitars that you hear is Mitch over-dubbing.

2005 onwards

In April 2005, their next album The Code Is Red...Long Live the Code was released. It features guest appearances from Jeffrey Walker (formerly of Carcass), Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed vocalist) and Jello Biafra (formerly of Dead Kennedys, and [Lard] among many other bands). The album continues the band's progressive approach to their brutal brand of extreme metal, with their trademark grindcore sound retained.

Napalm Death finished recording their new album titled Smear Campaign in June 2006; released on September 15, 2006 to very strong reviews from fans and critics alike. The main lyrical focus is criticism of the United States Government and other governments who are strongly religious. The album features a guest appearance by Anneke van Giersbergen, vocalist for the Dutch rock band The Gathering. There is a limited edition digipak version of Smear Campaign, which has two new songs, "Call That an Option?" and "Atheist Runt".

In early 2006 Napalm Death headlined a tour with Kreator, A Perfect Murder, and The Undying.

On August 27, 2006, Jesse Pintado died in a hospital in the Netherlands due to liver failure, prompting Mitch Harris to express his sadness at the loss of someone he thought of as "a brother" on the band's official website.

With the success of Smear Campaign under their belts, Napalm Death have geared up for a 2007 "World Domination Tour".

Bassist Shane Embury is currently working on a project with Mick Kenney of Anaal Nathrakh, their work together will be released on Feto Records at the end of 2007.

Members

Current lineup

• Mark "Barney" Greenway - Vocals (1989-1996, 1997-)
• Shane Embury - Bass / Additional Vocals (1987-)
• Mitch Harris - Guitar / Additional Vocals (1990-)
• Danny Herrera - Drums (1991-)

Past members

Vocals

• Nicholas Bullen - (1982-1987)
• Lee Dorrian - (1987-1989)
• Phil Vane - (1996-1997)

Guitar

• Daz F (Daryl 'Sid' Fideski) - (1982)
• Si O (Simon Oppenheimer) - (1982-1985)
• Justin Broadrick - (1985-1986)
• Frank Healy - (1987)
• Bill Steer - (1987-1989)
• Jesse Pintado - (1989-2004)

Bass

• Fin (Finbar Quinn) - (1983 - 1984)
• P-Nut (Pete Shaw) - (1985)
• James (Jim) Whitley - (1986-1987)

Drums

• Rat (Miles Ratledge) - (1982-1985)
• Mick Harris - (1985-1991)

Discography

Main article: Napalm Death discography

Trivia

• The name of the group - Napalm Death - was partly influenced by films relating to the Vietnam War.
• Though bassist Shane Embury has been playing in the band since 1987, and is therefore the member to be in the band the longest, there are no original members in Napalm Death's lineup.
• The band earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records for recording the shortest song ever, "You Suffer" which is precisely 1.316 seconds long and consists of the almost unintelligible lyrics "You suffer - but why?". Indeed, the vinyl single was particularly amusing, given that the entire track was contained in a groove that did not even complete a full rotation of the record.
• Played live on Chris Evans' TFI Friday television show and also appeared on The Priory where the band ate their lunch on a rollercoaster in tribute to a group of Boy Scouts doing so on Jim'll Fix It.
• Dream Theater singer James LaBrie wears a Napalm Death t-shirt in their "Pull Me Under" music video.
• 'Unfit Earth' from Harmony Corruption was used on the Vic and Bob pilot sitcom The Weekenders.
• The character Sol Badguy's (from Guilty Gear) Instant Kill move is called Napalm Death, after the band.
• In the children's film Matilda, Matilda's brother Mikey is wearing a Napalm Death t-shirt in the scene where the TV blows up.
• In David Firth's Burnt Face Man series of cartoons, the character Anger Man is seen wearing a Napalm Death t-shirt.
• Bill Steer appeared in Red Dwarf series 3 - ep. 'Timeslides' as the drummer in character Dave Lister's band Smeg and the Heads. Jeff Walker from Carcass played the bassist.
• Hard Rock band System of a Down gave thanks to Napalm Death in the booklet for their self titled album.
• In the computer game SSX Tricky, it is stated that the character, Psymon Stark's, favorite band is Napalm Death.
• The proceeds of Napalm Death's 1993 EP Nazi Punks Fuck Off were entirely donated to anti-fascist organisations.

References

1. [1]

External links

• Official Napalm Death website
• concert Paris La Locomotive 10/11/2006
• concert Paris La Locomotive 11/04/2007

Napalm Death
Current members: Mark "Barney" Greenway | Shane Embury | Mitch Harris | Danny Herrera
Nicholas Bullen | Miles Ratledge | Graham Robertson | Finbar Quinn | Daryl Fideski | Justin Broadrick | Pete Shaw | Mick Harris | Jim Whitley | Lee Dorrian | Bill Steer | Frank Healy | Phil Vane | Jesse Pintado
Discography
Studio albums: Scum | From Enslavement to Obliteration | Harmony Corruption | Utopia Banished | Fear, Emptiness, Despair | Diatribes | Inside the Torn Apart | Words from the Exit Wound | Enemy of the Music Business | Order of the Leech | Leaders Not Followers: Part 2 | The Code Is Red...Long Live the Code | Smear Campaign
Extended Plays: Mentally Murdered | Mass Appeal Madness | Nazi Punks Fuck Off | Greed Killing | Breed to Breathe | Leaders Not Followers
Compilations: Death by Manipulation | The Peel Sessions | The Complete Radio One Sessions | Noise for Music's Sake
Live albums (CD/DVD): Live Corruption | Bootlegged in Japan | The DVD |Punishment in Capitals