By Rich Hobson
Rightfully regarded as one of the most legendary bands within the extreme metal spectrum, Napalm Death still continue to astound with the sheer variety and unpredictability of the music they produce. It’s been a long wait for new material since 2015’s furious ‘Apex Predator – Easy Meat’, and though the band are in full swing for a new touring cycle this year they aren’t yet ready to put out a full release, opting instead for the 7” ‘Logic Ravaged By Brutal Force’. Spread across just two tracks, the band take a decided left turn into almost post-punk melody on the title track, sounding decidedly more Killing Joke than their usual snarl would entail.
That doesn’t mean this bee comes without a sting however – Greenway’s piss-boiling howl ripping forth during the chorus to deliver the ND goods we all know and love. This is a song of extremes – the inhuman aloofness of Killing Joke or latter day Voivod post-punk transposed against the grinding heaviness fans have come to expect of Napalm Death, creating a distinctive middle ground that can please old fans but may just draw in new listeners who find the more straight-up grindcore elements of the band too abrasive on first listen.
The flipside to the EP’s title track is a solid re-recording of Sonic Youth’s ‘White Kross’, again utilising an incredible juxtaposition of post-punk melody and shock-and-awe extreme metal to create a disconnect between the two styles that suggests a whole new direction for the next Napalm Death record. While no concrete information has been released on that as yet, the band are confident that it is due sometime later in 2020, promising to continue pushing boundaries like few other bands could ever hope to achieve in the extreme metal pantheon.
- ‘Logic Ravaged By Brutal Force’ is released on 7 February. You can get your copy HERE.
Napalm Death kick off the ‘Campaign For Musical Destruction’ tour (with EyeHateGod, Misery Index, Rotten Sound and BAT) this coming weekend, with the following ÜK dates later in the month:
- Tuesday 18 – Bournemouth, The Old Fire Station
- Wednesday 19 – Cardiff, Tramshed
- Thursday 20 – Birmingham, O2 Institute
- Friday 21 – Glasgow, Slay
- Saturday 22 – Leeds, Stylus
- Sunday 23 – London, Electric Brixton
Napalm Death also play Hammerfest XII in Great Yarmouth on Friday 20 March and then head across the Irish Sea to play Dolan’s Warehouse in Limerick on Friday 27 March, the Voodoo Lounge in Dublin on Saturday 28 March and the Limelight in Belfast on Sunday 29 March.
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