You should be listening to this!

Metal/Punk 101 here. Napalm Death’s debut album Scum is essential to those getting into the extreme sides of the musical landscape. It’s 28 songs of pure controlled chaos and you can’t keep up, but that’s great for those wanting bite sized portions.

A little history first… This album is technically two separate albums combined into one whole. Side-A (tracks 1-12) and Side-B (tracks 13-28) were recorded by two different lineups, except for drummer Mick Harris who stayed glued to his kit and played on the entire thing. Both present unique aspects to the record and it’s pretty cool how each side has its own style, yet the focus on the extremities of their choice of genres show that this band had many ideas on what they wanted to make.

Massachusetts hardcore band Siege, Michigan death metal band Repulsion, UK Anarcho punk acts Crass, Discharge, and even Post-Punk/Industrial groups like Killing Joke and Throbbing Gristle all inspired Napalm Death among many others. It really was a melting pot of different styles and the end result is the creation of “Grindcore”, pioneered by this band here.

The tracks on the album don’t need to be dissected with a knife. Their short (Guinness World Record for shortest song ever recorded: “You Suffer” 1.316 seconds long!) and to the point. Lyrically the songs dealt with the festering political climate at the time, future repercussions, as well as ideas against authority. This is pure punk mentality and its easy now to understand why this band was a crossover hit within the communities.

Today Napalm Death has no original members, but the current lineup has been consistent since the 90’s. They continued to make extreme music that pushes boundaries and inspires folks with ideas and a D.I.Y. attitude sense. You gotta love the trailblazer artists who blew people’s minds. It’s cool to think how shocking this all was back in day. Dig it…