LIVE REVIEW: Napalm Death @ The Electric Ballroom, London

Like, well, pretty much everything they’ve ever done, the Campaign For Musical Destruction Tour from NAPALM DEATH is the stuff of legend. First launched in 1992 with support from DISMEMBER and OBITUARY in Europe, and CARCASS, CATHEDRAL and BRUTAL TRUTH in the US, tonight, the greatest grindcore band of all time go out once again under the same banner as they bring a predictably stacked bill to Camden’s Electric Ballroom to conclude a month-long run of European dates.

Kicking things off with a potent mix of death metal, grindcore and metallic hardcore, Pittsfield, Massachusetts’ ESCUELA GRIND are perfectly placed to set the tone for the evening. It’s the young band’s first time in the country, and they make one hell of an impression on a reasonably well-sized crowd considering the early start time. Vocalist Katerina Economou is particularly captivating as she spin-kicks, dances, windmills and twerks her way through a tight half-hour set. The band sound great too, especially on cuts like My Heart, My Hands, Cliffhanger and All Is Forgiven – all from last year’s killer sophomore full-length.

With an early encouragement to “eradicate all the racist motherfuckers” and later a proud affirmation that they stand for and with the most marginalised members of our communities, it’s not just the band’s music that fits this bill, and as they promise to return in September it feels very safe to say they’ve guaranteed themselves a fair few ticket sales tonight.

Rating: 9/10

Realistically, all SIBERIAN MEAT GRINDER need to do from there is keep the energy high, and the Russian crossover thrashers are well-equipped to do so. Taking to the stage to HOUSE OF PAIN’s iconic Jump Around, and with vocalist Vladimir sporting a bear mask that remains on for the entirety of the set, the band quickly introduce listeners to their established formula – essentially a form of rap metal-infused thrashing with plenty of space for guitar solos and a serious obsession with bears and their very own ‘bear cult’.

With plenty of tracks from their most recent album – Join The Bear Cult of course – the Russians operate largely in a single gear, with only the occasional exception such as a super bouncy chorus in Walking Tall or the particularly swaggering drop in No Way Back doing much to break up quite a one-paced set. That said, they do bring a full-on bear mascot onto the stage at one point, and the emphasis on unity and the general momentum of the music does enough to keep the evening on track.

Rating: 6/10

Next it’s the turn of a band who’ve been around nearly as long as the headliners themselves. “Hello we’re DROPDEAD from Providence, Rhode Island; we play hardcore punk,” offers vocalist Bob Otis before the veterans launch into a blistering volley of tracks from their latest self-titled full-length (2020). These opening numbers, Otis explains, are dedicated to anti-racism and anti-fascism, and the band maintain a fiercely political air throughout the entirety of their set. Many tracks go out to the Animal Liberation Front, while others come with a call to “stand up, wise up and fight” as Otis affirms that we already have the numbers and now all we need is the courage.

Elsewhere, Witch Hunt is dedicated to a woman’s right to choose, while Paths Of Glory from the band’s 2011 split with CONVERGE speaks of endless oil wars. At every turn, the band perform and Otis screams with the fury these issues deserve, blasting from track to track mostly in sub-60-second flurries. If you want a picture of hardcore as it was originally intended, this is it.

Rating: 8/10

Obviously NAPALM DEATH need no introduction, but they do look a little different tonight with bassist Shane Embury absent and vocalist Barney Greenway confined to a chair having broken his ankle earlier on this run in Munich. Even these setbacks do nothing to knock the legends off their inimitable stride; their friend Matt covers bass duties with ease, guitarist Mitch Harris and drummer Danny Herrera deliver with inch-perfect precision, and Greenway still manages to look like an absolute maniac even without his usual freedom to roam the stage – “I am not averse to looking like a bit of a twat”, he laughs.

The set is immensely satisfying, with plenty from their most recent full-length Throes Of Joy In The Jaws Of Defeatism (and a couple from its accompanying mini album) balanced out by similar representation for their earlier material. Songs like The Kill and the title track from 1987’s Scum incite complete carnage, as do the likes of I Abstain from Utopia Banished and Suffer The Children from Harmony Corruption, which brings the evening back to the theme of standing against religious interference in women’s rights. Of course, the band never miss a chance to put their politics front and centre, with Greenway emphasising “people always welcome, friends always welcome, refugees welcome, and fuck off you spiteful Tory bastards.”

Closing the set with their incendiary cover of Nazi Punks Fuck Off followed by Siege Of Power (another one from Scum), NAPALM DEATH have once again delivered not just musical destruction but pure grindcore perfection – as indeed they always do.

Rating: 10/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Karolina Janikunaite here: 

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