Napalm Death
Smear Campaign

THE REVIEW

I want to review Smear Campaign, the new album by Napalm Death. I'm not a fanatic of Grindcore, but I've always liked Napalm Death because they are among the few musicians of this genre, besides being the inventors, who always offer something new and unique in their albums. In fact, I found this album very distinctive.

The album opens with "Weltschmerz," an intro that starts only with a kind of guitar arpeggio, then you hear electronic sounds and finally some keyboards. In itself, it's nothing special, but I didn't expect it from Napalm Death. The second song is titled "Sink fast let go," where the guitarist's voice alternates with the singer's. The second song is titled "Fatalist," and it's nothing special, while in the third song, "Puritanical punishment beating," there are many rhythm changes and guitar breaks. The fourth track, "Well all is said and done," is beautiful but a bit repetitive because the chorus is repeated many times. The following song, "Freedom is the wage of sin," is noteworthy because it varies a lot both in terms of guitar and drums. "In deference," the following track, is on the same line as the previous ones. The song "Short lived" is one of the fastest on the album, where the drummer beats very fast rhythms. "Identity crisis" is my favorite song on the album, with very heavy riffs. The next track, "Shattered existence," is also characterized by very powerful stopped riffs. "Eyes right out" begins with a beautiful bass line. "Warped beyond logic" and "Rabid wolves of Chris" are the shortest songs on the album, while "Deaf and dumbstruck" is the worst on the record. However, the penultimate song, "Persona non grata," with an unexpected Italian title, is beautiful. The last track, "Smear Campaign," is a sort of outro.

In the album, almost all the songs last more than three minutes, but it cannot be defined as a Death Metal album. In short, Napalm Death absolutely have no intention of stopping playing; in fact, they've come back more determined than ever.