Scum [CD]

After hearing many good things about napalm death, i decided to get their first album "where it all started".

It's quite different to anything else I've ever heard. The first proper riff heard on the album on the 2nd track is fantastic, while simple. It explodes into a storm of crushing vocals and hard, fast blastbeat drumming and doesn't let up until the very end of the song. Napalm death's music is a mix of punk and death/heavy metal, more often than not played at 200 miles an hour.

I most enjoy this album when listening to it beginning to end, as it's quite short, and the songs are so fast and brutal that they rarely clock in at over 60 seconds (the longest song being 4 mins and the shortest 1 second). I personally do find the short songs a bit odd and pointless, but when listened to all together, one after the other, they really began to grow on me. It's certainly not the kind of album where you only like one or two songs.

The original album came as a double sided LP, the A side having one line up of napalm death which was recorded for 50 quid and lasts 20 minutes, the B side with a completely different line up (bar the drummer), which is quite different in song structure to the first. The first 12 songs have only one vocal style doing loud, growly vocals, while the others have 2 vocal styles, one loud and growly like the first (but slightly more aggressive) and a high pitched shrieky vocal (sort of like Arch Enemy's vocalist, but more angry and faster). I'm not sure if there's 2 vocalists or not but they often both sing at the same time giving a "dual vocal attack" style of singing. If you've never heard grindcore or anything like it before, it's seems quite odd at first. The guitars and bass are more or less equal in quality, as is the drumming.

The production quality is quite poor but it doesn't really bother me, it makes it sound slightly heavier.

My favourite tracks are "Instinct of survival" (A side, 2:27) and "Life?" (B side, 0:44). These are my favourite because they are the first tracks you hear and it's quite amazing the first time.

All in all, it's fast, brutal and hilarious at times (due to incredible OTTness).

I'm not sure if it should, but it really makes me smile when i listen to it.

:)

Napalm Death looked at bands like Slayer and thought "How can we be more extreme" and hence the answer came in the form of their very own invention known as Grindcore. This was a style similar to that of the Death Metal sound being produced similtaneously in Florida, only much more extreme and with a few differences. Flushing all proper song structures down the toilet, Grindcore was a blistering thunderstorm of noise so loud and fast it was difficult to keep up with (Thrash Metal was a tortoise compared to it). Like Hardcore Punk, Napalm Death based their lyrics around socio-politics. Using this new found form of music, Napalm Death set about to become the worlds most extreme band. And to help that along, Mick Harris invented the drumming technique known as "Blastbeat" where the drums are played so fast that they resemble the speed of a machine gun.

Once they were signed to the newly formed Earache record label in 1987, Napalm Death were finally ready to release their new apocalyptic noise onto the world, and that sound was captured onto the legendary "Scum" album.

Many who do not follow Extreme Metal that closely will discard this as a CD of noises and talentless little kids who grunt and bash drums alot...but to Extreme Metal fans, this is the icon of Grindcore. 33 minutes of blistering tracks (one of which "You Suffer" is less than a second long. Don't buy this if you expect song structures like The Beatles as you will be severely disappointed. Buy this album if you absolutely love blastbeats (like myself) and have an open mind...and if you like Grindcore of course.

Nowadays however, Napalm Death generally play a more Death Metal Orientated sound, although the Grindcore elements are still there (i.e Blastbeats, politically charged lyrics etc)

If you like "Scum", I'd suggest ND's next album "From Enslavement To Obliteration" which continues on where "Scum" left off.

In one form or another the band has been around since 1982 and was originally a Hardcore band, they pushed at the extremes of the genera and the Term "Grindcore" came into play. There are several differing stories as to where the term originated, some say Mick the drummer came up with it others say that it was Shane (bass)others say that it was from outside the band-at the end of the day its not that important, many of the bands contempories eg Extreme Noise Terror and Siege insist that they themselves are and always were Hardcore and reject the term Grindcore (and in the case of Siege "Powerviolence" too) whats important is that this is very fast extreme Music and if you enjoy extreme music with socio-political lyrics this may well be for you.
Despite the legendary status this album has atained many of the bands more recent releases are far superior-heavier, better musicianship and more versatile vocal style.
This may sound like i dont like the record but i do, its just that they are so much better now and have actually defined Grindcore rather that it being another name for Hardcore, the one thing that i will say is better than later releases is the cover- it makes a great shirt print and has a very underground look to it.