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Pardon me...do you have any grey napalm?
(by: Mike Klassen)

After nearly a decade of "corrupting harmony," the creature knownas
Napalm Death has released its latest disc - their seventh to date -
Diatribes, a perfect marriage of dissonance and dynamics.

As you may or may not know, Napalm Death recently graced the stage at the
Pyramid Cabaret. An enthusiastic audience was more than willing to be taken
from "enslavement to obliteration," all within the course of about75
minutes.

I was immediately impressed when I was introduced to vocalist Mark "Barney"
Greenway and guitarist Mitch Harris, who were more than willing to takepart
in a discussion on anything I could throw their way. Although the latterof
the two couldn't stay for long - he had to get some grub - Barney answered
all my questions to the best of his ability.

When asked about the political views of Napalm Death (rounded out by
guitarist Jesse Pintado, bassist Shane Embury and drummer Danny Herrera),
Barney was quick to talk about recent events in South Africa, where he wasa
guest on a talk show and was asked to explain just exactly who their music
is aimed at.

"I'm not going to pretend you're going to get every man and his unclecoming
down to the show," Barney explained. "Musically and lyricallyit's aimed at
all backgrounds, all cultures, if you're gay or straight or whatever, it's
for everyone."

These comments weren't taken very well by some members of the stations
ultra-right-wing audience. For example, one individual called in with his
misled views.

"Basically, he just started slagging me off for the comments I hadmade. I
basically just shot him down, because he was so stupid. He couldn't even
back up his own comments."

As Pintado joined us, we quickly turned our attention to the musical
progress the band has made on their most recent disc, as compared to
previous outings.

"I'm not sure if it was all that intentional," claimed Greenwayin [Image]
response to my question of there being exper-imentation in the vocal
department - a few tracks on Diatribes strayed from the usual guttural vocal
stylings. He continued, "There's stuff on there that I think you're
referring too.

"Like on 'Cursed To Crawl,'" I quickly intervened.

"Yeah," he exclaimed, "I actually didn't do any of the [non-guttural]vocals
on that track. Shane [Embury], the bass player, did that."

Jesse Pintado, now feeling talkative, shed some light on the songwriting
process that went into the Diatribes sessions.

"Musically, I guess we tried to keep things experimental and extremein a
way. We tried different tunings."

"What influenced you to go that way?" I asked.

"Well, I've been playing guitar now for like 13, 14 years. Playingthe same
bar chord gets boring. And people are like, 'You changed,' and I'm like,
'What else can you do?' you know? When we rehearsed these songs it was all
really loud, and when it came down to recording it was kind of quiet. We
were all like, 'Whoah, wait a minute,' you know?" This is in referenceto
certain sections on the album where non-distorted, chorus-laden guitar lines
took prominence over the usual barrage of distortion. "But in the end,I
think it made the heavier parts stand out more."

"Was there anything you left off this album, figuring it was maybetoo much
of a change?" I asked.

"Yeah, there was some stuff where Mitch [Harris] had this certain tripthat
was just too much of a change this time around," Pintado responded.

Speaking of Harris, I later talked to him about his side-project, Meathook
Seed, whose Earache release, Embedded, is one of the most impressive heavy
releases I have ever heard. Meathook Seed will hopefully put out its next
full-length release by December. "It's going to be way more heavy thanthe
last one, yet more commercial at the same time!" he excitedly ravedto me.

And that, my friends, in a nutshell, is the extent of what took place onthe
night in question. Remember: Napalm Death is not for the faint at heart,for
their's is a world of discordance. The beauty within is much more deeply
felt than with a single listening, for here is possibly the embodiment of
heavy music, its future, and the madness that follows?

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