Napalm Death: Defining Grindcore since 1981
The Story of Napalm Death
Napalm Death: Defining Grindcore Since 1981
Napalm Death is an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands in 1981. None of the original members have been in the band since 1986, but since Utopia Banished in 1992, the lineup of bassist Shane, guitarist Mitch Harris, drummer Danny Herrera, and lead vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway has remained constant for most of the band's career. From 1989 to 2004, Napalm Death was a five-piece band after adding Jesse Pintado as a replacement for former guitarist Bill Steer. Following Pintado's departure, the band reverted to a four-piece.
The band is recognized as a pioneer of the grindcore genre, incorporating elements of crust punk and death metal. Their sound is characterized by a noisy, distorted guitar sound, distorted bass, high-speed tempos, explosive rhythms, and vocals consisting of incomprehensible growls or high-pitched shrieks. Their songs are extremely short and feature sociopolitical lyrics. The band's debut album, *Scum*, released in 1987 by Earache Records, proved substantially influential throughout the global metal community. According to Guinness World Records, their song "You Suffer" is the shortest song ever recorded, at 1,316 seconds long.
Napalm Death has released sixteen studio albums and is ranked as the seventh best-selling death metal band in the United States by Nielsen SoundScan.
Napalm Death was formed in the village of Meriden near Coventry, UK, in May 1981 by Nic Bullen and Miles Ratledge when the duo were still in their teens. The duo had been playing in amateur bands since 1980 as an extension of their fanzine, and went through several names (including "Civil Defence", "The Mess", "Evasion", "Undead Hatred" and "Sonic Noise") before settling on Napalm Death in mid-1981. The band was initially inspired by the first wave of punk bands, particularly the anarcho-punk movement, a subgenre of punk music centered on anarchist politics.