Napalm Death

Napalm Death was born in 1981 in Meriden, a small village near Coventry in the UK, on the initiative of two teenagers, Nic Bullen and Miles Ratledge. The former started out as singer and bassist, the latter as drummer. Personnel changes soon followed, but the band found its place on the local anarchist and punk scene, participating in billboards alongside bands such as Amebix, Antisect and The Apostles, and even recording four demos during its first three years of existence, which were included in a compilation entitled Bullshit Detector Volume 3 in 1984. Put on hiatus at the end of 1983, Napalm Death returned in 1985 with a fifth demo entitled Hatred Surge, but had not yet quite found stability due to new departures and arrivals of musicians. Enriched by Carcass guitarist Bill Steer and singer Lee Dorrian, the band released their first proper album, Scum, in 1987. This was quickly followed in 1988 by From Enslavement to Obliteration. For the album Harmony Corruption (1990), Napalm Death evolved musically, influenced by the death metal movement then in vogue. The band now tours alongside such big names as Obituary, Sepultura, Entombed, Machine Head and Sick of It All. The 1990s were a prolific period, with five more albums to follow: Utopia Banished (1992), Fear, Emptiness, Despair (1994), Diatribes (1996), Inside the Town Apart (1997) and Words from the Exit Wound (1998). Napalm Death attacked the 2000s with a move towards more extreme metal, especially with the album The Code Is Red... Long Live the Code (2005), which follows Enemy of the Music Business (2000) and Order of the Leech (2002). Already politically committed, the band, known for their avowed anarchism, violently attacked the American government and religion on Smear Campaign (2006). With regularity, Napalm Death then released an album every three years: Time Waits for No Slave (2009), Utilitarian (2012) and Apex Predator-Easy Meat (2015). But Napalm Death's fans, never daunted by this protean band that has worn out some twenty musicians by the time it reaches its thirtieth anniversary and doesn't feature any of the original members, had to wait until 2020 for the release of its sixteenth album, Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism, followed two years later by the EP Resentment Is Always Seismic: A Final Throw of Throes. In 2026, the band teamed up with fellow American band Melvins for the joint album Savage Imperial Death March.