» Napalm Death 2011 02 08  
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Reviewed by Martin
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City: Copenhagen, Denmark
Venue: The Rock
Date: 8 February 2011
Set length: 60 min

Napalm Death

When Mark "Barney" Greenway screams straight into his microphone, and is signalling with his bodylanguage that here stands an angry man, I have a hard time believing that he is the same kind person I sat opposite just an hour before the concert. Napalm Death's frontman has, much like the band's music no middle gear, and Barney embodies the concept of total dedication just beautifully.

When he's not screaming his guts out he clearly still is inside the ferocity of the music. His stage antics are, well, totally original and clearly projects the onslaught of the band's music. To say that I'm impressed with his performance this evening is an understatement. Napalm Death carries, perhaps a bit involuntarily, a big load on their shoulders for being called the godfathers of grindcore. That the band has been in the business for a whopping three decades this year is truly impressive. Being called godfathers would suggest complacency in the performance.

Well, from what I saw this evening that's not going to be the case, ever. The moshing on and off the stage is impressive - and Napalm Death clearly demonstrates that they are still very much focused on playing brutal grindcore and to never compromise with the performance side of things. Bassist Shane Embury, the member with the longest stay in the band (since 1987), guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera (also in excellent Anaal Nathrakh) really digs into the aggressiveness of the music - and with Barney on top this really knocks the wind out of my lungs.

Napalm Death has a gigantic body of songs - and I would have liked it even more if the band had played longer than the hour we now get. I am still very pleased with the song selection, this being the first time I witnessed the band in concert. They of course play classics as Scum, Control, M.A.D. and naturally You Suffer from their debut album but also favourites Continuing War On Stupidity, On The Brink Of Extinction, Lucid Fairytale and When All Is Said And Done.

Organic and spontaneous are two words often used by Barney when describing how he wants Napalm Death to be. That he really means it is totally palpable. The band isn't the tightest in the world - and in this case I really like it. It's not that, as far as I can tell, the band plays with many mistakes but there is a drive to and a raw punkiness in the way Napalm Death is playing that I really fall for.

I had quite large expectations on the evening's festivities and when I'm walking down Ströget to Copenhagen's Central station I feel very satisfied with what I have witnessed. Raw, punky grindcore delivered with feeling and a sense of commitment that in the case of Napalm Death goes a long way indeed.

8 chalices of 10


Setlist: (might be slightly incorrect)

Strong-Arm
Diktat
Work To Rule
Downward Clique
Lucid Fairytale
When All Is Said And Done
Hung
On The Brink Of Extinction
The World Keeps Turning
Conform
Politicians
Greed Killer
Scum
Control
M.A.D.
You Suffer
Nazi Punks Fuck Off
Suffer The Children
Instinct Of Survival

Related links:
www.napalmdeath.org
www.myspace.com/napalmdeath