Napalm Death

Napalm Death

Time Waits For No Slave

[4/5]

Napalm Death’s early work inspired either exhilaration or terror: Those brutal, spontaneous detonations left no room for alternate interpretations. As the group’s current members evolved together, they expanded their repertoire, discovering emotional nuance in the process. These days, the band not only set complex moods but also sustain them. Time Waits For No Slave contains a deeply melancholic three-song stretch, with the gloomily chaotic “Larceny Of The Heart” at its fulcrum. “Life And Limb,” an eerily melodic thrash-punk diatribe with distortion-corrupted harmonies, ends with a perfect musical translation of frontman Barney Greenway’s closing phrase: “lingering aftermath.” A uniquely solutions-oriented political act, the band offer suggestions like “talk it through, gain insight” and “promote access to education” instead of just running on rage fuel. Greenway even barks the word “love” six times (“Love is the wild-eyed antidote to cold imperatives”). For all their impressive depth, the band still find time for blast beats, invigoratingly fast riffs and indecipherable Greenway hisses. Napalm Death never stopped writing spectacular one-minute grindcore songs; they just started building around them. (CENTURY MEDIA; centurymedia.com) Andrew Miller



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