Napalm Death
Mentally Murdered

THE REVIEW

"SPACCA TUTTO. BRUTAL DEATH TRASH METAL!!!!!"

That's how user Pinhead responded to one of my comments; I take the opportunity and will strike heavily once again. More Napalm Death: the undisputed founding fathers of Grindcore who by the end of 1989 spew out this six-track EP. These are the last recordings featuring the smug participation of Lee Dorrian on vocals (?!?) and Bill Steer on guitar. The first historic shift regarding the band's sound: Death Metal elements are introduced and blended with Grindcore. It creates an always extreme, but less chaotic, sonic mayhem compared to the two seminal previous albums. An excessive sound wall, but with instrument control and a significantly improved production.

"Rise Above" opens the auditory slaughterhouse: a guitar riff of a distinctly Carcassian nature; after all, Bill was playing with both Napalm Death and Carcass at that time (and hell yeah, I might add), a ruthless drum that marks the pace of the track until the terrifying entrance of Lee's voice. A strained and deep groan never heard before; the words are barely understandable, even following the lyrics.

It's time to move on to the title track, another brief assault lasting just over two minutes: beastly rhythms, Hardcore-Grind slashes of the six-string; with a bass that is violently handled by Shane Embury's filthy hands. All properly supported by the inhuman machine gun sitting at the drums: that Mick Harris, who will later become one of the minds behind Scorn.

But it's with "Cause And Effect" that they manage to push further in terms of blind and cynical violence: eighty-five seconds of martyrdom, of lucid and biting madness. All is aimed at delivering an unimaginably extreme performance; a track that is the legitimate offspring of the best Discharge's sonic chaos...NO MENTAL EFFORT...

Soon after, Lee leaves the band, forming Cathedral and moving in an entirely different direction in terms of sound. But that’s another story.

Ad Maiora.