The 25 Best Metal Bands of All Time, #24: Napalm Death

October 14th, 2014 at 5:00pm
Axl Rosenberg

MetalSucks recently polled over a hundred of metal’s most revered musicians, critics, journalists, artists, publicists, and industry insiders to find out which 25 bands represent the very BEST in the history of metal. Today we continue the countdown with England’s…

Napalm Death
22 Votes
278 Points

It is impossible to overstate the historical importance of Napalm Death to extreme music. To imagine a world without the British quartet is to imagine a domino effect of things we love ceasing to exist: grindcore, death metal, Decibel magazine, and, oh hey!, MetalSucks might all be but figments of one’s imagination if not for Napalm Death. (And since the band gifted upon the world one Justin K. Broadrick, who in turn gifted upon the world Godflesh and Jesu, one could easily argue that industrial and shoegaze each deserve a spot on that list as well.) “I wouldn’t be doing this if not for Napalm Death” is a phrase I’ve heard uttered by countless metal musicians (which isn’t even counting Broadrick, Carcass’ Bill Steer, or Cathedral’s Lee Dorian, all of whom got their start with ND); the band should basically be collecting royalty checks on everything metal-related which has been produced in the past twenty-seven years, since the release of their debut album, the oh-so-appropriately titled Scum.

Infamously, the line-up of Napalm Death that appears on side A of Scum is different from the line-up of Napalm Death that appears on side B of Scum — and no member of either of those line-ups is still in the band today. Naysayers might use this rather funny fact to argue that the band doesn’t belong on this list. Unfortunately for those people, they’re idiots, and that argument holds no water.

Because with the exception of the late, great Jesse Pintado, the band actually hasn’t undergone a line-up change since founding drummer Mick Harris left the fold in 1991… and three of the band’s four current members have been present since at least 1990’s Harmony Corruption. So this line-up has basically been together for a quarter of century, during which time they’ve pushed the envelope right over the fucking cliff again and again and again. No joke: the band’s most recent release, 2012’s Utilitarian, was as strong as anything the band has ever released… which is the same thing everyone said about 2009’s Time Waits for No Slave, 2006’s Smear Campaign, 2005’s The Code is Red… Long Live the Code, and… well, you get it. There’s no case of Metallica-itis here: if there’s a fountain of vitriolic youth, Napalm Death have clearly discovered it and bathe in it almost daily.

Napalm Death have done more than just retain their musical piss n’ vinegar, though — they’ve also maintained their strong sense of political morality. Napalm Death have never used their art as an outlet for bellyaching about ex-girlfriends or rock star excess, turning their attention time and again to actual issues which are worth discussing. The closest exception is 2000’s Enemy of the Music Business, and even there the band’s titular target represents a heftier threat than cheating wives and an abundance of nose candy.

Where would metal be without Napalm Death? We dread the day we have to find out.