Napalm Death Album: “From Enslavement to Obliteration”

I got this when it came out back in '88 and it totally changed my musical perspective. I'd already heard Scum and the Peel Sessions 12", but this album took legendary Brummie noise merchants Napalm Death to a whole new level of deranged, superfast grindcore mayhem!!! This is probably as extreme as Napalm got, and, if you approach with an open mind, much noisy fun can be had. The lyrics are also excellent, something which too often gets overlooked when talking about this band. If you're a curious metal/punk fan looking for your first dose of Napalm, Scum or the new album, Enemy Of The Music Business, are probably better places to start, but if you're a committed noise/grindcore fan, you must own this album - so stop messing about and add it to your cart! The ultimate grindcore record. CHUFFED!!!

There is a lot of criticism by the "new school" Napalm Death fans out there. Sure, Napalm Death was a great 90's death metal band, but everything from "Harmony Corruption" through their nowadays records are simply death metal. But "Scum" and "FETO" are grindcore. Grindcore does not equal death metal...and everyone should know why. Fans of the newer Napalm Death should not take their first two albums as death metal. As for Napalm Death themselves, they revolutionalized grindcore, tagged it and released two of the best grind albums in 1987 and '89. "FETO" is not "Scum", but it is better than (most) of the thousand clones that came out after grindcore became a important genre of music. In my opinion, the 1989 lineup was the best lineup ever in the band's history. Led by Bill Steer on guitars (also of Carcass fame), Lee Dorrian (also of Cathedral fame), Shane Embury on bass and Mick Harris, who went on to many industrial and doom metal projects, these legendary musicians were able to grind out this 34:18, 27-song album.

Production for this album is *better* than "Scum", and everything (except the bass) is audible, but it isn't perfect. But, for a grindcore album, it is good. Lyrics...the lyrics are pure genius. Inspired by old-school punk and the "f*** it all" attitude, you get some very angry lyrics. Songs like "It's A M.A.N.S.'s World" and "Evolved As One" offer some of the best political lyrics out there. Lee Dorrian combines the low, inaudible grunts and the high pitched shriek for vocals, which may scare away little kids, but if you try to sing behind all that carnage, it would sound stupid. Mick Harris fills drum duties perfectly, grinding out some fast and crazy stuff. The bass is inaudible, which is no surprise. And Bill Steer...this man gets my respect just for starting Carcass, but he helped revolutionize two musical genre's (grind with Napalm and Carcass and melo-death with Carcass). He is a great songwriter, and shows it in every band he is in. The guitars are on steroids and play at an insanely fast pace. You should all bow down to Mr. Steer and treat him as a god!

This 28-track album kicks off with "Evolved As One", which sounds like more of an industrial song, with a cool drum fill and almost talking vocals until Dorrian busts out screaming "weak minds" until the end. Then, the carnage begins. Most of the songs are a minute long. There are some longer songs, which slow down a little bit. These slower songs are awesome...period. Toward the end of the album, there are some 0:05 and 0:06 second songs that are there for filler, but like the immortal "You Suffer" on "Scum', they have music, lyrics and vocals, and are oddly considered real "songs". The best songs here include "Evolved as One", "It's a M.A.N.S World!" (with great, sarcastic yet serious lyrics), "Unchallenged Hate", "Display to Me...", "From Enslavement to Obliteration" and "Mentally Murdered". Sometimes, you could hear a compressed guitar solo in some of the songs. Very cool. As the title of this review states, this is one of the best grindcore albums ever. I have had this album for a long, long time, and it hasn't left my CD player in that length of time. Essential for any extreme metal fan out there. Compared to Napalm Death's followers, nothing comes close (except...maybe Carcass or Nasum). Go out and get this album if you consider yourself an extreme metal fan.

This album is pretty intense. I listened to it once in the car with a friend who wasn't into heavy music, and his head exploded. All the songs after the first are extremely fast, short, and furious as hell. This is what grindcore is all about, and this is a classic in this genre. I'd strongly recommend this if you're into metal/hardcore. But if you're new to this kind of music I'd steer clear of this one for a while. You probably wouldn't be able to appreciate it yet and your head might explode. Have fun with this one kiddies.

Napalm death is my favorite grindcore band of all time. From enslavement to obliteration is by far the best album out there for grindcore. The album is so fast and heavy and drums does not end. Lee dorrian did very well on singing on this recording as well as half of the scum album.

Napalm Death is one of the death/grind core bands that really got me into the "scene." I'm not in the "scene" much, or at all, lately, but I still love this music.

From Enslavement to Obliteration is brutal, savage and fast. It'll attack you, be done with you and throw you to the side of the road before you even know what hit you. By some of today's standards it might seem juvenile, but it all had to start somewhere. Just as the "greats" like Slayer, Metallica and so on have to evolve, so too did Napalm Death. For me, the raw, almost garage recording styling of "From Enslavement..." really brings home the insanity.

This one is remastered. Unlike other "Remasters" where they just seem to push the volume to the maximum (which they've done a bit here), they also seem to have attempted to keep the harmonics, the highs and lows, in place. Overall I think this remastering is an improvement, though some part of me still dearly loves the harsh bite of lesser production values from the original disc.

Highly recommended.