Grindcore godfathers Napalm Death will release their new studio album, Throes Of Joy In The Jaws Of Defeatism, on September 18 via Century Media Records. The follow-up to 2015’s Apex Predator – Easy Meat was again recorded with longtime producer Russ Russell and features artwork by Frode Sylthe. The first single, “Backlash Just Because”, can be streamed below.
Napalm Death vocalist Mark “Barney” Greenway stated about the upcoming album and its theme: “The phrase sticking in my mind when I started thinking about the lyrical direction for this album was ‘the other.’ You could recognize at the time that there was a rapidly growing fear and paranoia being generated about everybody, from migrating people to people with fluid sexuality and this was starting to manifest itself in very antagonistic reactions that you felt were almost verging on violence. Not everybody resorts to such reactions, of course, but even the basic lack of understanding can become toxic over time. I’m not saying that this is an entirely new phenomenon, but it has been stoked in recent history by some particularly attack-minded people in more political circles and, as ever, I felt that it would be the natural antidote to endorse basic humanity and solidarity with all.
“The artwork specifically uses a white dove as a centrepiece, which, of course, is a commonly recognised symbol of peace and cooperation. The dove has been mauled very violently by a sterilizing hand and in death appears particularly broken and bloodied. However, through the violence you can see an equality symbol in blood on the chest of the dove, which perhaps demonstrates — visually at least — that equality cuts through in the end. A positive amidst many negatives then, much like the album title itself being a bit of an oxymoron — the celebration of humanity even in the mangling jaws of negativity.”
Regarding the LP’s musical direction, Greenway told Kerrang! magazine: “I’ve definitely done some stuff on this album vocally that I’ve never done to this degree before. We’re heading into the noise-rock territory, loosely. Swans, My Bloody Valentine, The Young Gods — we’re heading more down that path. But there’s some more traditional, fast, chaotic stuff as well. Again, as long as it’s aggressive, confrontational, abrasive, even when it’s less full-pelt, it’s always NAPALM DEATH.”
Track listing:
- Fuck The Factoid
- Backlash Just Because
- That Curse Of Being In Thrall
- Contagion
- Joie De Ne Pas Vivre
- Invigorating Clutch
- Zero Gravitas Chamber
- Fluxing Of The Muscle
- Amoral
- Throes Of Joy In The Jaws Of Defeatism
- Acting In Gouged Faith
- A Bellyful Of Salt And Spleen
Napalm Deathis (from left to right in photo)
* Shane Embury – Bass reverberations, barks and moans, noise-testing everyday objects
* Mark “Barney” Greenway – Bawling, shrieking, intermittent baritone
* Danny Herrera – Turbulent beat throes