Had I been told four or five years ago that the spirit of psyche-exploring, experimental Electro/Industrial duo Coil would be alive and flourishing in the hands of Napalm Death’s bass player, I would have been … surprised. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Shane Embury
ALBUM REVIEW: Venomous Concept – The Good Ship Lollipop
Napalm Death’s Shane Embury is a musician who seemingly never rests! After spending the best part of four decades playing the earth-shattering bass in the world’s premiere Death / Grindcore band, he has also dabbled in a seemingly endless succession of side projects and guest appearances. In 2021 he created one of the albums of the year by returning to Blood From The Soul and bringing in Converge vocalist Jacob Bannon for the journey, and in 2022 he provided music of a more obscure and experimental electronic persuasion, with Dark Sky Burial.
ALBUM REVIEW: Werewolves – From The Cave To The Grave
Because it’s been widely known for years that the singular purpose of every plant and creature living in or around Australia is to kill you, our friends down under don’t actually have much of a requirement for mythical monsters. Not when the natural world is more than willing to fulfil that need entirely by itself. Continue reading
EP REVIEW: Napalm Death – Resentment is Always Seismic – A Final Throw of Throes
From the recordings done back in 2020 for Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism (Century Media) storms in Napalm Death’s very own “mini-album”, Resentment is Always Seismic – a final throw of Throes. These English grindcore legends certainly need no introduction as they continue to push the boundaries of grindcore and punk to create this extension of their previous full-length release. Complete with two covers, a remix, and a few other gems, these next thirty minutes are sure to fly by and deal out some serious punishment.
Shane Embury’s Dark Sky Burial Shares a New Single and Video, New Album Incoming
Led by Napalm Death bassist Shane Embury, Dark Sky Burial has announced a new album, their fourth, Omnis Cum In Tenebris Praesertim Vita Laboret! It is releasing on December 10th 2021via Embury’s own Extrinsic Recordings label., and the album’s title translates as, “Life is one long struggle in the Dark.” Like the previous music under this moniker, this is a drastic departure for Embury known for his 30 plus year career in Grindcore and Death Metal. Shane has also shared the video for first single, “Mind Rat” which you can watch now.
ALBUM REVIEW: Napalm Death – Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism
Napalm Death choosing to drop Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism (Century Media) is the definition of perfect timing. For those not keeping score at home, the current leader of the free world is an ass-clown who smears his face daily with greasy self-tanner and fancies white supremacists and McDonald’s food. Oh, and there’s a bit of a global pandemic that has paused the world and crippled economies.
It isn’t looking too good out there, folks.
Tronos – Celestial Mechanics
Tronos is a side-project born of many late-night conversations between the two of the more prolific creative forces in underground metal, Napalm Death legend Shane Embury and legendary producer Russ Russell. Joining them is the equally talented Dirk Verbeuren on drums, Billy Gould, Troy Sanders and Dan Lilker on bass and vocals by Snake from Voivod – there’s no shortage of talent on display here. Continue reading
Born To Murder The World – The Infinite Mirror of Millennial Narcissism
I mean what else are you supposed to call a band featuring Napalm Death’s Shane Embury and Mick Kenney of Anaal Nathrakh fame? I would’ve been partial to the Care Bears, but not sure if that would fly on an LP titled The Infinite Mirror of Millennial Narcissism (Extrinsic Recordings).Continue reading
Lock Up – Demonization
Yes, it’s a cliché, and no, I don’t care if writing professors from here to hell say to avoid clichés at all cost, but Heinz was on to something… It has been six years since Lock Up’s last album, and three years since Kevin Sharp (Brutal Truth) replaced much-beloved vocalist Tomas Lindberg and very simply, good things come to those who wait.Continue reading
Napalm Death – Apex Predator – Easy Meat
Remember the first time you heard From Enslavement to Obliteration (Earache), the ground-breaking second album from UK grind pioneers Napalm Death? I certainly do. It was 1988, I’m there trying to grasp on to my love of loud music…and I fucking hated it. I found it laughable, and it sent me away from Metal’s harder edges for a long time. How can you identify with a five-second song, for Christ’s sake? Up to this moment, I’d never listened to another Napalm Death album.
A staggering 27 years later fifteenth album Apex Predator – Easy Meat (Century Media) hits my inbox and boy, I feel different. The angry yet tribal rhythm of the shamanic title track gives way to the pounding machine-gun rattle of ‘Smash A Single Digit’, while the powerful skewing punk of ‘Metaphorically Screw You’ ploughs an irresistible furrow. There’s display of a flexibility in pace with the initially slower ‘Dear Slum Landlord’ retaining a hefty boot with a full production and eventually exploding with euphoric ferocity. The band’s trademark veering grind is still in evidence in the speed and violent switches of ‘Cesspits’ and ‘Bloodless Coup’; while the exercise in raw bloody velocity that is ‘Stunt Your Growth’, complete with mid-point of brutal groove and a barked Barney Greenway delivery, will rip up some serious pits live.
That the band still emits a burning intensity, railing against injustice and The Establishment, is reassuring and adds the crucial element of gravity to what is, in essence, a joyous and energising sound. The beefy punk of ‘Hierarchies’ possesses choruses of near harmonised, reflective vocals and a lightning lead break to highlight the versatility. Thankfully this is followed by the frenetic bludgeon of blastbeats and the savage roars of the penultimate ‘One Eyed’, reverting back to the coruscating norm with a wonderful closing bounce that is the album’s highlight.
Me, the Napophobe? I bloody love the nose-breaking, careering chaos of it all, which would appal an old, lost friend and make a few more chuckle. I’m ashamed I’ve missed out on so much but thank God for mid-life crises, eh?….
8.5/10
PAUL QUINN