Napalm Death

Napalm Death
Napalm Death
	Napalm Death performing in 2019
Background information
Origin	Meriden, West Midlands, England
Genres	Grindcore; death metal; anarcho-punk (early);
Discography	Napalm Death discography
Years active	1981–present
Labels	Century Media; Spitfire; Earache; Columbia; Combat; Relativity; Dream Catcher; FETO; Snapper; Peaceville;
Spinoffs	Brujeria; Cathedral; Lock Up;
Members	Shane Embury; Barney Greenway; Mitch Harris; Danny Herrera;
Past members	Nicholas Bullen; Miles Ratledge; Simon Oppenheimer; Stephen Beddows; Graham Robertson; Daryl Fedeski; Finbar Quinn; Marrian Williams; Damian Errington; Justin Broadrick; Peter Shaw; Mick Harris; Jim Whitely; Frank Healy; Bill Steer; Lee Dorrian; Jesse Pintado; Phil Vane;
Website	napalmdeath.org

Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands in 1981.^[1] None of the band's original members have been in the group since 1986, but since Utopia Banished (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris, drummer Danny Herrera and lead vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway has remained consistent through most of the band's career. From 1989 to 2004, Napalm Death were a five-piece band after they added Jesse Pintado and Mitch Harris as replacements for guitarist Bill Steer. Following Pintado's departure, the band reverted to a four-piece.

The band is credited as pioneers of the grindcore genre by incorporating elements of crust punk and death metal, using a noise-filled sound that uses distorted, down-tuned guitars, grinding overdrive bass, high-speed tempo, blast beats, vocals that consist of incomprehensible growls or high-pitched shrieks, extremely short songs, and sociopolitical lyrics. The band's debut album Scum, released in 1987 by Earache Records, proved substantially influential throughout the global metal community.^[2] According to the Guinness World Records, their song "You Suffer" is the shortest song ever recorded, at 1.316 seconds long.

Napalm Death have released sixteen studio albums, and are listed by Nielsen SoundScan as the seventh-best-selling death metal band in the United States.^[3] According to former vocalist Lee Dorrian, Scum and From Enslavement to Obliteration (1988) have sold a combined total of 400,000 copies worldwide.^[4]

^ For the evolution of the death metal and grindcore extreme musical genres, see, Mudrian, A., 2004, Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore, Feral House, Los Angeles.
^ Napalm Death at Allmusic
^ "It's Official: CANNIBAL CORPSE Are The Top-Selling Death Metal Band of the SoundScan Era". blabbermouth.net. 17 November 2003. Archived from the original on 2 December 2003. Retrieved 3 May 2008.
^ Smit, Jackie (14 September 2005). "In the Valley of the Shadow of Death". Chronicles of Chaos. Retrieved 16 January 2024.

[1] For the evolution of the death metal and grindcore extreme musical genres, see, Mudrian, A., 2004, Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal & Grindcore, Feral House, Los Angeles.

[2] Napalm Death at Allmusic

[soundscan2003-3] "It's Official: CANNIBAL CORPSE Are The Top-Selling Death Metal Band of the SoundScan Era". blabbermouth.net. 17 November 2003. Archived from the original on 2 December 2003. Retrieved 3 May 2008.

[4] Smit, Jackie (14 September 2005). "In the Valley of the Shadow of Death". Chronicles of Chaos. Retrieved 16 January 2024.

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