ND's Biography

    Napalm Death started in Birmingham, a working class city, in 1982. Information about the background of the band during this period is very scarce, since they did little recording. Anyway, it started as a Punk rock project by high school student Nick Bullen and some friends he met at school.

    Stewart Lee went to school with the originators of Napalm Death, here are his comments on this experience:

    "I went to the private fee-paying boys' school in Solihull, West Midlands from 1979-1986. Napalm Death were all in the year above me, apart from Nic Bullen, who I think was then known as Nic Scab. "The Rat" was a really nice bloke called something Ratledge, who I think left over musical differences when he got into early posi-punk stuff like Southern Death Cult. I think he was called Nick Ratledge. He was the drummer I think (Yes, Mick Harris confirmed this). He was thin and small and often had a runny nose, but was one of those people who could always make a school uniform look like a scarecrow's outfit. I remember, after the first Southern Death Cult single came out he wanted Napalm Death to go in more of that direction. You have to remember, all music was shit in the early 80's, and even though Southern Death Cult ended up as the awful Cult, it was a veritable wilderness back then and they seemed brilliant. I thought he was really cool and was impressed that he spoke to me. Other members of the band were this guy who had a leather jacket with a picture of The Damned, who played a fisherman in a school production of the Agatha Christie play 10 Little Indians (...) he just had a European kind of name. I remember now it was Darren or Daryl Fideski. Maybe he had a Russian family. I dunno. He played guitar with early Napalm Death for a bit, or it might have been bass. His hero was Captain Sensible from The Damned. (...) after he left Napalm Death he was critical of what he called their "Crass style instrumental pieces". (...) and a blonde boy with a freckly face (...) He was called Rob something (and) I used to go mountain walking with in Wales.

    At about the time they appeared on the Bullshit Detector compilations Napalm Death were about 15 years old. it's worth explaining that Napalm Death in 1982/3 weren't operating out of some urban nightmare landscape. Aprt from Nick, who I didn't know at all, they were all living in a middle-class, semi-rural suburb of Birmingham, Solihull. It's closer to Stratford, the pretty tourist town associated with Shakespeare, than to the centre of the city. Most of Napalm Death were nice, middle class kids that you' be happy to introduce to your grandmother. They weren't urban warriors.

    Also, speed metal, death metal etcetera were genres that just didn't exist back in the early 80's. The early Napalm Death were in the vein of Crass, and the difference between songs like Traditional Society or Punk Is A Rotting Corpse on their first demo tape and the album Scum is incredible. Also bands just didn't have names like Extreme Noise Terror, Cradle of Filth or Napalm Death back then. I remember the name causing much amusement at school - it seemed so absurdly over the top. I imagine there may have been an element of humour in choosing it, but it would be presumptuous to say so. (No it wouldn't, you are probably right Stewart - Web)

    This meant nothing to me at the time, but the Napalm Death lot and their mates were the cool older kids who liked good music, whilst everyone in my year liked shit like Saxon, Iron Maiden, and New Wave of British Heavy Metal (obs: the owner of this page doesn't necessarily agrees with this opinion, even though I do think that most of Saxon's records are SHITE! And i don't hate Iron Maiden or anything, I actually like them a bit - Web), even though they'd deny it these days. Last time I saw D Fideski was in about 1984 at a Sisters of Mercy concert (oh dear - I was young) and he was on magic mushrooms

    I only saw them (live) once. It was at Dorridge Village Hall in about 1982 or 1983. Dorridge was a little village just outside Birmingham (...) (It) was the kind of place where you would have Cub Scout Meetings, Infant School plays and local Christmas pantomimes. This was very small scale. Napalm Death performed in front of a banner that said "Punk Is A Rotting Corpse" and this was the title of one of the songs the performed. The music was like Crass. They were supporting Nobody's Heroes, a Stiff Little Fingers covers band fronted by my friend Tim Collingwood's brother. As usual in the early 80's there were some hard punks there who kept hitting my friend Pete Davis on the head during the Nobody's Heroes set so, being 14 or so, we had to run away. The violence at the gig was not part of some wider trend within a "grindcore" scene or anything. There wasn't a scene. It was just 14 year olds fighting. I used to have a copy of the demo tape from this era but I taped over it.

    When I saw Napalm Death they were children aping their idols, and being spat at by a small audience of middle class teenagers who thought that was a 'punk' thing to do. But what was impressive about it was they'd got on a record and shown you could do stuff. For me, Napalm Death was a link from our tiny closetted community out to a wider world of possibilities. And I still sometimes find myself singing Traditional Society, although the only words I can remember are the chorus - "Traditional Society, Traditional Society, Traditional Society, Traditional Societ-eeeee!". I don't know how interesting this is to you, but whenever I read about or hear about Napalm Death, grindcore originators, it always amazes me to remember them playing Dorridge Village hall as pubesecent public schoolboys. Even at their worst, they were an inspiration."

            S. Lee

    This incarnation of Napalm Death that Stewart describes didn't last very long though. As he said, in the beggining Napalm didn't sound like the holocaustic destruction that we know today, but they were more inspired by early punk bands and other underground acts such as Amebix and Crass.Within that style, the band recorded participations on two compilations "Ya mothas so fat she fits under a car " and "Bullshit Detector#3", the latter being a compilation of punk bands made by Crass records, a label owned by Crass, a very political and socially aware british band. This is the first official Napalm Death studio recording.

    Meanwhile, young guitarrist Justin Broadrick was playing by himself in a project called "Final", which he taped in his room or wherever (and whenever) he could, and didn't do much else (Justin still plays and releases records under the name Final, together with Godflesh's bassist B.C.Green). Nick Bullen met Justin Broadrick in a record shop that both used to hang out in Birmingham. They had similar interests (Punk Rock, Metal, Throbbling Gristle...) and soon enough Justin was admitted into Nick Bullen's project. This was around May 1985, and with him came the very first metal sounds. "Justin came about and presented a more metallic style, combined with loose Killing Joke playing" says former drummer Mick Harris. They then recorded a legendary demo (Hatred Surge). On the Hatred Surge demo they had some funny pseudonymous. The line-up described on the tape is: Nik - Vox, Just - Guitar, Nuts - Bass, Rat - Drums.

    After recording the Hatred demo, The Rat got out (Harris says that they were having problems with him) and Mick Harris, a local fan who didn't even owned his own drum kit was admitted into the band. As he says: "I had become a keen fan watching every local show and got the job I guess. (...) all I had was a pair of sticks and i wanted to go Maniac behind the kit".

    The band then became a three piece (with Nik Bullen taking over bass duties besides singing) and having Justin only on guitar and newcomer Mick on drums. "It became more metal influenced as the three of us played more" continues Mick. Then, they actually became the most extreme grindcore act ever.

    After getting in touch with Digby Pearsons, the owner of the small label "Earache Records", through mutual friends, Napalm Death signed a deal and recorded half (yes, HALF of the songs!) of what was to be their debut album "Scum" in 1986. As Dig himself says: "I first met them in 85 or 86, they had putted a demo out, and no one would touch it. But I listened to it, and I loved it, so I decided to put it out". The album was yet unreleased.

    Although ND was the first band who actually coined the word "Grindcore" to classify and define the type of music that they played, lots of other bands where already doing it for a while. Acts such as Siege, Repulsion, Macabre, S.O.B., Larm, Heresy, Criptic Slaughter, Nausea, Death and many others where all known for playing ultra fast and brutal songs. They didn't actually "invented" grindcore, but more like helped it evolve and go forward. Anyway, Napalm Death was the first to actually pigeonhole those bands within a style, and to establish themselves as kings of the genre.

    "Grindcore was Micki's term" says singer Mark Greenway: "It didn't come from the press, we invented it". Concerning the definition of what is grind, he says:"Grind can be anything from ultrafast thrash to really slow, heavy and dense music like early Swans". The grind scene was then beggining to take shape, and soon all bands would be led by Napalm Death.

    At this time Nik Bullen was both playing the bass and singing but that was soon to change... As with everything in Napalm Death. In order to make things easier to Nik, a new bassist, Jim Whitley, was called, and Nik concentrated in singing.

    On they went playing in small clubs and the like, gaining a small but loyal following.

    During one of the concerts, the band played with fellow noisiers Head of David (which was also a brutal band, but industrial like) and Justin, which was absolutely mad about the guys, was offered to play with them, provided that he left Napalm. He didn't think twice before leaving Grindcore for good, and joining Head of David on drums. Napalm Death didn't have a guitarrist anymore.

    Not long after Justin left, Nik Bullen ALSO left. According to Mick Harris he was loosing interest, showing up late for rehearsals, etc. He was asked to settle or get out. Obvioulsy he chose the latter, left the band and wen't to collage. (Later, he formed the ambient-dub-drum 'n' bass-industrial-dance-whatever combo "Scorn" with Mick Harris, but more of that in proper time). The lyrics sheet in Scum has a message from Mick Harris to both Nik and Justin, saying goodbye and telling them to keep together, which, to tell you the truth......they didn't!!!

    The band was then reduced to Jim on Bass and Mick on Drums, and things were clearly not going anywhere this way.....they had to look for new members. Guitarrist Bill Steer played in a local grind band called Carcass, (you might have heard about them!!!) and given the afinity between the bands, he soon joined Mick and ND. Also, a new singer had been called: Lee Dorrian!! Yes!!! the king of screaming Grindcore himself! So now the band, whose original members where all gone (but Mick) had a new guitarrist (Bill), a solo singer (Lee), Mick on drums and Jim on bass, a lovely line-up.

    With this line-up they recorded what was to become th B side of "Scum", and the result was finally released trough Earache as MOSH 3. An instant hit among the underground community, Scum sold very well as soon as it was released (more than 90 thousand copies in England only). It caused an impact in extreme music that is felt 'till today, influencing bands from all around the world. This classic attempt against logical musical structure and good taste features seminal Grindcore classics such as "Dragnet", "Mind Control", and the yet to be surpassed "You Suffer", an exquisite piece of composition which lasts for about 0.7 seconds (a world record for the world's shortest song maybe?)

    After the warm welcome from thrashers, punks, metalheads, moshers, grinders and the like, the band went on tour. Nevertheless, no stranger to line-up changes, ND lost another of its members. Jim was out of the band just before the tour for "Scum" was about to be (again for reasons unknown...as one can see Napalm Death is a rather misterious band). Enter Shane Embury, the guy with the ugliest hair in the history of Grindcore. After this small line-up change, they took part in two compilations (North atlantic noise attack and the Pathological), recorded two Peel sessions and a Split 7" with japanese grinders S.O.B. On top of that, our adorable grinders went to Rich Bitch studio once more and recorded their second insult to moralistc society, the controversial classic "From Enslavement to Obliteration".

    Very much in the same vein of "Scum", "From Enslavement..." differs from "Scum" as far as production goes, but that's about it. Here, again, we have the same bombastic waves of noise and ultra-fast-light-speed thrash that made our hearts warmer when listening to "Scum". Bill's guitar shreds through thin air, and Lee's vocals sound as if he was vomitating and agonizing in pain. Pure joy and clean entertainment for the whole family, a classic no doubt. Following the release of FETO Napalm had a participation on BBC's Arena Heavy Metal Special, which proved how successfull the band could be.

    The band went on touring around the world for a while, but as soon as they came back home from Japan, in july 1989, Bill and Lee decided to quit and follow their own paths. Well, once again Napalm was reduced to a pair of members. But both Shane Embury and Mick Harris knew what to do, so it didn't take long before they contacted what were to be the new members of ND.

    Soon enough they contacted Jesse Pintado (who had played in a Grind project called "Terrorizer"). A new singer, Mark "Barney" Greenway, who sung in the Death Metal act "Benediction" was also called, and immediatelly joined the Wild Bunch. The band was now ready to rock, and so they did.

    After recruiting new members for the Napalm front, the band took part of the Grindcrusher tour, with fellow labelmates Carcass, Bolt Thrower and Morbid Angel. After the touring, our toxic avengers decided to change things a little bit.They called in a second guitarrist, Mitch Harris (Ex Rightous Pigs), and soon started writting new songs with this line-up.

    With different members, and differnet things in mind, Napalm Death now also wanted a new producer. On they went to american Death Metal producer extraordinarie Scott Burns (of Sepultura and Death fame), who lives and works in Florida. Burns records most of his stuff on Morrisound studio, a kind of "meeting point" for extreme bands. The place has already been used by acts such as Obituary, Fear Factory, Deicide, Death and others. It was time for Napalm Death to be introduced to this wonderfull place.

    The band went to Morrisound and started working on their new album: "Harmony Corruption". While writting "Harmony..." they definitely changed their style a little, going from the straightforward, no-holds-barred Grindcore, to a healthy "mix" of good old sonic blast beats and some slower, more rithmic parts. It is much more Death Metal influenced than the previous albums, and it was a good progression as far as the compositions went. But, nothing is perfect, and Scott Burns production on this record is really shitty. Like me, the band also didn't like Burns's work, and never worked with him again.

    After releasing the new record, ND went on touring around the world (starting with Brasil!!! yeah!! being supported by Sepultura during the Beneath the Remains era) and from the material filmed at those concerts they released a home-video, "Live Corruption".

    Napalm's last founding member, Mick Harris wanted to change the band. He was bored by all the Death/Thrash thing and wanted to experiment a little, try new things, risk a little more. His idea was to introduce things like samplers and drum machines into the band. Well, the other guys didn't like those ideas very much. They still wanted to play straighforward Grindcore!!! And so Mick was forced to quit Napalm and started his own band, Scorn. Ironicly enough, he called ND's original Bassist/vocalist Nik Bullen, and ND's original guitarrist Justin K. Broadrick, and together they went to the studio to record Scorn's debut, "Vae Solis".

    An extensive US tour with Sepultura, Sacred Reich and Sick Of It All followed, widening the Napalm Death audience even further.

    In the meantime, ND released a new record, "Utopia Banished". Now working with producer extraordinarie Colin "mr. soft" Richardson. This release was a kind of "return to the roots". Bombastic, "take no prisioners" grindcore is played here, no survivals at all costs!!! Much more minimal than "Harmony", this record follows the same style we had in "Scum" and "From Enslavament". A very nice record on the early ND tradition.

    After recording "The World Keeps Turning" EP, the band trekked Europe with Dismember and Obituary on the "Campaing for Musical Destruction" tour. The tour continued in the US, with Napalm playing with Cathedral, Carcass and Brutal Truth.

    Things then went more smoothly to our dear Napalmers. The line-up was never to change again. Mitch, Jesse and Danny all went to England to live with Shane, and the only one living alone (in Bimingham, the others live in Wolverhampton) is Barney. After all the touring and stuff, the band rested for a while, went to the studio and recorded "Fear, Emptiness, Despair...". Now this was a major change!!

    In spite of keeping all the heaviness and aggression, the new record sounded really different to the avarage Napalmphille. It was clear that ND was trying to make their sound more modern. More rithmic riffs and a industrial like structure, mixed with some goo'old grindcore blasts are the main ingredients of the album, making it unique and a whole new approach to Heavy music (at least for ND). As usual, both critics and fans received the album well.

    Live concerts with Entombed, Obituary and Machine Head showed the audience how violent and aggressive the new Napalm Death sound could be.

    The "Greed killing" ep was the next release from the band, through the always reliable (???) Earache label. Again going in the same direction of "Fear.." the band now has a slightly more accessible sound. Contrary to what one may think, though, this is one of ND best releases to date, showing how perfectly the band learned to mature over the years making their music more sophisticated and complex than ever, and yet still keeping all the heaviness and brutality that made them so well know. After the preview with the EP, "Diatribes", a full-lenght record was released.

    Although things seemed to be going smoothly from outside, ND was going through problems. Misunderstanding between the members and lead singer Mark Greenway led to the latter being expelled form the band in late/mid 96. Barney went to record with Extreme Noise Terror (the ENT release "Damage 381" features Barney on lead vocals) and ENT's main screaming man Phil Vane went to fill Barney's hole on ND!!! Anyway, things didn't went as good as they were supposed to, and Vane was kicked out of the band just before they got into the studio to record the new album. Who would sing on Napalm now? Who could replace two of the best singers of Grindcore? a very familiar character........nobody would admit at first, but Barney was the only one good enough to do the job. The man was called and he accepted. Barney is back on Napalm...forever? Let's keep our fingers crossed.

    Just recently the band released their seventh album, "Inside the torn Apart". Another genuine masterpiece, "Inside..." takes Napalm death forward into the future of Grindcore, and stablishes the band as the only survivors of the genre (a genre that seems to have faded through the years). Other bands who have risked themselves through the little travelled waters of extreme grind music are just pale imitations of the true kings. A very good production by Colin Richardson assures the sound quality and the power of the record. A new classic is stablished, once again for other bands to use as standard to judge themselves by.

    Napalm's future lies ahead (where else would it be?).......following the narrow path of Grindcore, they are the last of the original bands who started the movement. A strong line-up, and the knowledege that the right people are doing the right job assures us that, as long as Napalm Death lives, extreme music is in good hands.