Napalm Death + Melvins

Although the name Napalm Death has existed since 1981, as the band’s first line-up plundered the post- and anarcho-punk scenes for inspiration, it was 1987’s seminal Scum album that would ensure their place in the grand pantheon of heaviness. A visceral dismantling of conventions, it effectively kick-started the entire Grindcore scene, gaining Napalm Death something approaching household name status for their insane speeds, animalistic screams and uncompromising political stance. From that moment, the band became synonymous with both proudly-held ethical principles and the relentless pursuit of new ways to terrorise people with riffs and noise.

By the early ‘90s, Napalm Death had coalesced around a steady line-up of vocalist Barney Greenway, bassist Shane Embury, drummer Danny Herrera and guitarists Mitch Harris and Jesse Pintado. Renowned for both unrelenting tour schedules and a steady stream of consistently well-received albums, they have powered forward ever since, weathering transient trends, media indifference and industry skulduggery along the way. Despite the sad passing of Pintado in 2006, the 21st century has seen Napalm Death continue to refine and redefine their still epoch-wrecking sound, with instant classic albums like Smear Campaign (2006) and Utilitarian (2012) adding further flesh to the bones of this ongoing legend.
While many veteran bands are content to repeat themselves or to wallow in nostalgia, these noise-hungry stalwarts seem to have gained fresh impetus and momentum in recent times, as showcased on 2015’s Apex Predator – Easy Meat, and its universally acclaimed and truly mind-bending Throes Of Joy In The Jaws Of Defeatism (2020). The creation of the latter masterpiece clearly ranks as one of the most fertile periods in Napalm Death history, as the band are now to unleash a brand new 30-minute mini-album, Resentment is Always Seismic - a final throw of Throes. Boasting some of the band’s most experimental material yet, alongside the expected bursts of bone-shattering extremity, the new release continues Napalm Death’s devotion to a defiantly underground punk rock ethos.

“It was all recorded during the sessions for the last album, but as you know, we always record a shitload of stuff!” says Barney Greenway. “We purposely said, right, we’re going to put a mini-album out for a change! Being from the school of hoary old punk rockers, we like to do these stripped down releases. We recorded enough that we still had a lot of bonus tracks for the original album release, and we had all this extra stuff left over!”

Continuing the fearless exploration of their legendary sound’s outer limits, Resentment is Always Seismic… is full of jaw-dropping moments where heaviness and insanity collide. From the crushing, ultra-distorted grooves
of opener Narcissus and the sluggish, Swans-saluting oppression of Resentment Always Simmers, to the visceral rage attack of By Proxy and blistering covers of Bad Brains’ Don’t Need It and industrial noise rock icons SLAB!’s pummelling People Pie, Napalm Death’s music has never sounded more vital or unique. Nowhere is that more evident than on the new mini-album’s closing title track, wherein bassist Shane Embury morphs into his Dark Sky Burial alter-ego for a synapse-torching remix for the ages.

“These songs are pretty much an extension of the last album, but there’s a lot of crazy stuff on there and we really went for it,” Barney concludes. “With the title track, Shane punted the idea of doing a remix, and I thought yeah, why not? We’ve always shared a love of things like Coil, and all that dark, soundscape stuff, so I was quite happy for him to do that. Him and Russ [Russell, producer] built the track, with all kinds of inanimate objects being thrown around in very unsavoury ways! [Laughs] It turned out really fucking good.”

The Melvins are one of modern music’s most influential bands. Having formed in 1983 Montesano, Washington, the group - founded by vocalist/guitarist Buzz Osborne, with drummer Dale Crover joining a year later - has been credited with merging the worlds of punk rock and heavy music, forming a new subgenre all their own. Over their 40-plus-year career, they’ve released more than 30 original albums, numerous live records, and far too many to count singles and rarities. Recent releases include 2024’s Tarantula Heart, a really good collection of what the Melvins do, what they can do and what they want to do, and Five Legged 
Dog (2021), an ambitious 36-track acoustic collection that reimagines their heaviest songs alongside covers of their favorite artists. Throughout their discography, the Melvins have collaborated with Jello Biafra, Mudhoney, and Fantômas for individual releases and toured the world many times over. Remarkably, they had the misfortune to be in both Christchurch and 
Tokyo for their 2011 earthquakes. In 2012, the Melvins completed the “51 States in 51 Days” (50 states +DC) tour, which was chronicled in the film “Across The USA in 51 Days.” The current incarnation of the band is Osborne, Crover, and Steven McDonald (Redd Kross). Previous lineups included a pairing of Osborne and Crover with Jared Warren and Coady Willis of Big Business, a four-piece featuring the current trio plus Butthole Surfers’ Jeff Pinkus, as well as Melvins Lite, which partners Osborne and Crover with Mr. Bungle’s Trevor Dunn. Sometimes, if you’re extra lucky, one version of the Melvins will open for the Melvins.