Napalm Death

Fear, Despair and Loathing (Earache)
by Paul Lee

Envision this scenario: You are happily numbed by morphine with a huge smile of bliss on your face, strapped to the bottom of a fighter (say a Tomcat) which takes off and cruises at lightning speed. Sure, you’ll probably fall off and smash into little bits on the ground, but you felt good while there was a terrifying roar of intense velocity. Now you have some idea what listening to Napalm Death‘s latest Fear, Emptiness and Despair is like. It’s a frightening experience that draws you in and keeps you prisoner to its merciless onslaught.

This is the music you want to play for people you really despise or who truly appreciate the most intense and unrelenting grind-core available. Just try to drive your car to the lovely sounds of Napalm Death and see how close to the envelope you can take your car.

Napalm Death have to be about the best and most coherently brutal export that England. Fear, Despair and Loathing should go down as a classic in the mega-extreme music annals. There is nothing like being happily ravaged by incredible songs like “Retching in the Dirt” and “Twist the Knife (Slowly).” This is not merely death metal mania here, Napalm Death roars against social ills and tortured lives without the trite Satanic/horror/evil topics of death metal. There’s more to this insanity than just the unbridled rage, it is intelligent, original and unstoppable.
If you can listen to a Napalm Death album from start to finish (thank the lord it’s only 45 minutes. I may have needed professional help if it were longer), you must have a constitution that’s stronger than The Hulk’s. As amazing as it is, Fear, Emptiness and Despair is also a wearying album. I was exhausted and ready to pop in some Beck when I was done. But this is a good thing. There is no auditory adrenalinated rush more exciting and powerful than Napalm Death. This is the best brutal album of the year!