What a debut ! Having the honor of being the first
grindcore album ever is no mean feat. This is a nuclear blast of a record that
decimates everything in its path. Song writing and Structure – Forget It.
Melody – don’t make me laugh. What this had was a sound that defined the
underground metal movement and an attitude that spawned grind-core. A direct
influence of digesting the harsh reality of corrupt governments, politics and
war while listening to those angry hardcore bands (Discharge, Exploited). Song
times in seconds and no concession to commerciality makes this the grind
statement to end all.
The second album shows that this was no fluke but hidden in
the chaos was a method to this madness. This has some strange songs (Evolved as
One) showing a more industrial experimental side to the band, as well as more
channelised grind. Another short sharp vital piece of protesting grindcore.
The band embraces more traditional (i.e death metal)
influences while retaining the grind and enhancing the production values. Hence
the songs now decimate you with their brutality and huge sound. More industrial influences are revealed all over the
album. The lyrics are scathingly realistic as ever.
More full-on grind than the last one, this has a more
mature approach in that all influences have been spread evenly throughout the
record. Raging, ferocious yet also haunting at times this is a solid death/grind
record.
A big step forward with ND now thoroughly embracing
dissonance in their riffing and managing to be ferocious yet forlorn and
despairing at the same time. A dark and extremely heavy record that manages to
be original and disturbing while retaining the inherent grind aesthetic.
Accordingly some oblique personal lyrics (which are even more disturbing) make
appearance.
Following some average releases, the Napalm troop re-found
their spark. This is grinding, heavy intelligent music with soul. It has the
dissonance and angst of punk and industrial driven forward on an un-stoppable
grinding machine that just doesn’t quit with splattering of melody. The best
thing is that the melody makes the songs heavier by charging them emotionally
without interfering with the brutality of the sound.
Another classic album from the most consistent Death Metal
/Grind band ever. The lyrics rightfully slice the Bush-Blair axis of evil, while
the music is now perfect grind metal if ever there was such a beast. It is heavy
as fuck, raging like a beast and surprises with occasional dismal melodic
riffing incorporated in the chaos. Goes to show that these granddaddies can
still show the new kids some tricks. To release so many consistently good
releases is no small feat in the extreme metal scene and for this alone, Napalm
Death deserve a lot of respect.
The first proper satanic death metal record, this was a big influence on black metal also (with its occasional raspy vocals, dark imagery, raw guitar tones and epic eccentric song structures with the ferocity and emotion of hardcore). Trey Azagthoth unleashed his possessed guitar on an unsuspecting audience. Extreme metal would never be the same again. Incidentally, demo and bootleg versions of this release circulated around but the album was officially released only after later albums.
The first official album was this demonic classic. The production had improved and the playing had leaped forward while remaining decidedly non-typical and establishing the trade-mark Morbid Angel sound, soon to be the signature death metal sound. This has it all: ass-kicking metal classics, jaw dropping playing, ferocious vocals and imagery from hell (incl. Lovecraftian references).
Their master-piece and one of the heaviest, most evil death metal records ever. This has an eerie feel which when coupled with the more oblique lyrical references (the Elder Ones, take a bow) and those bizarre song structures makes this a wake-up call to the then basic DM scene. Contendor for the top ten metal albums of all time.
A better produced record, this also showed Morbid Angel expanding their musical horizons. The death metal got deadlier, more brutal and grinding while the key-board interludes and doom metal bits got more weirder (nevertheless still horrific sounding). Another classic form the house of Trey.
A strangely heavy and disturbing record, this had more of
Dave Vincent’s input in it compared to older records and as such had a
different vibe. This is more angry and hate-ful record which sounds xeno-phobic
without saying it in so many words. For those who labeled Morbid Angel racist,
this was the perfect musical argument. By this point Pete Sandoval had become
ridiculously fast with double kicks that became the envy of the metal world. And
Trey was , well, Trey – ripping, slashing and generally terrorizing listeners
with a wide and bizarre arsenal of riffs and licks along with schizophrenic lead
work, while David barked his hate at the world.
A seminal album from a classic band, this one changed the face of death metal forever. This was death metal that relied on good song-writing and catchy riffs while keeping the lyrics intelligent (a big step).
This release essentially blew all competition out of the water. This married the brutality of death metal to the catchy melodious song writing and playing of traditional metal while also occasionally veering off into progressive territory. It is the first DM album that can right-fully be called beautiful.
Balancing the prog and melodic tendencies with razor sharp cutting-edge death metal, Chuck found the perfect mix. With a super backing band, this album showed how good song-writing makes a huge difference. The fact that you feel you will rock to it in ten years too, makes it a novelty in the death metal world. Suicide Machine, Lack of Comprehension , Together as One etc are metal anthems par excellence.
By this time Chuck and Death had out-grown their brutal
roots and music shows it thoroughly. Utilizing a fret-less bass (courtesy Steve
of Sadus), this defined progressive death metal. This has it all : Odd meters,
strange scales, emotional songs and searing and soaring leads. The man was a
genius. May he rest in peace.
They released one record but what a record it was. Along
with Death and Atheist this defined progressive death metal. It fused death
metal and traditional metal with jazz and fusion structures to make a classic
record. Bands are stealing pages from this book to this day.
A debut straight from hell, this ripped most existing
death/grind bands to shreds with its technical, oblique structuring and stellar
playing. A brutal, angry yet epic record with a thorough Egyptian theme (studied
and scholarly at that) Wow.
The playing becomes even more insane to the point where drummers and guitarists wet their pants at one hear. The Egyptian interludes and themes are now more fully developed. This is the sound of death metal’s triumphant rebirth.
The crowning achievement of Nile, this perfected all
aspects of the previous albums. From packaging to songs to playing to mood, this
is death metal perfection. Absolutely crushing heavy insane epic death metal.
The blast-patterns actually change tempos and timings, and the guitars and drums
weave in and out like demonic serpents. The
doomy bits crush like pyramids accompanied by traditional Egyptian instruments.
This here is the shit.
A classic from the underground, this defined genres with its hyper paced riffing and harmonized lead work, spawning a sound that became a template for many in the death and black metal scene. The vocal rasp also set a new standard.
The record in death / black metal, this is any extreme guitar enthusiast’s wet-dream. It’s a classic from first note to last. Its like a demonically possessed Iron Maiden on speed and crack. Though the sound has been copied to death, nobody ever did it quite as good as these lunatics, because in the end it comes down to the songs. And what songs :”Nights Blood”, “Thorns of Crimson Death”.