Napalm Death: Festival Of Free Thought
Whilst some bands sour over time, others age like fine wines. It doesn’t matter if it’s your first sip or your final swig, they hit the spot time after time after time. They’re the bottles you go back to when you need to find a certain feeling. And when it comes to Download Festival’s heavier offerings, usually found on The Dogtooth Stage, the fine wine doesn’t come any more vintage than grindcore pioneers NAPALM DEATH. This year marked their sixth appearance at the festival, playing main support for Brazilian legends SEPULTURA.
They’re no strangers to slinging out festival sets, but what’s it like being back at Download for the first time in four years? “We don’t play this kind of thing every day, because we’re not a mainstream band, so it’s always interesting coming to this sort of thing, it’s always so expansive and wide” admits vocalist Barney Greenway, as he seeks shade from the surprise sun shining down on Donington Park.
Whilst the sun might be shining, and they’ve got the opportunity for an afternoon out in the field, there’s a bit of a generational gap that Barney’s more than happy to admit. “A lot of the stuff that’s on this festival, it wouldn’t be something I would go and see, I must be honest,” he confesses candidly. “But I’m not the target person for this festival, so it’s great that they do mix it up, that there’s something for everybody.”
You can say that again, Barney. At the same time they take to the stage later that night, gothic punk kings and queens CREEPER bring a little pantomime to The Avalanche Stage, whilst MASTODON and DEFTONES take their crowds on mind-altering trips through prog-rock and nu-metal shoegaze. So with all these big bands on the bill, where do they feel they fit in these days? “NAPALM DEATH is completely abrasive, you know it’s completely not tailored towards any kind of commercial sensibilities but somehow, as noisy as we are, we seem to get more attention from doing that, from just doing our natural thing.”
NAPALM DEATH could never do anything but show up and tear every other band a new one, but it’s those who stumble upon their set that makes it all worthwhile. No matter what they think of them, Barney still finds fields full of shocked faces funny. “For a lot of people they’re like ‘what is this band? What is this horrible noise?’ – because it’s going as close to pure noise as possible.”
It’s that shock factor that keeps them flying the flag for all things heavy. Whether they’re blasting big crowds at Download or headlining stages at Bloodstock, they continue to create music and play live to help open eyes. Take this year’s mini-album Resentment Is Always Seismic – A Final Throw Of Throes for example, it’s as much a vehicle for them touring, as it is a body of work.
On Resentment Is Always Seismic…, and Throes of Joy In The Jaws of Defeatism before it, NAPALM DEATH continue to shout about the things they care for. But Barney isn’t at Download to stand on a soapbox, he’s here to create conversations. “I’m not there to whack people with a big stick, you know, my whole thing is about free thought and the liberation of human beings, and sentient beings as well,” he insists. “Those are the really tough statements of what we do, and if people don’t agree or whatever, that’s fine, that’s the whole point; we’re encouraging free thought, we’re not encouraging robotic, one dimensional perspectives.”
As NAPALM DEATH age and perspectives change, it’s possible ring rust might’ve formed for the band following the global pandemic. But Download isn’t their first rodeo since the before times – they happened to headline the Sophie Lancaster Stage at last year’s Bloodstock. “That was the first show back after all the lockdowns for us, and I was fucking shitting myself to be honest. I get stage fright still so I was fucking absolutely quivering like a jelly.”
Putting the wibble wobble aside after dominating that set, they seem more settled back on stage. But it’s nothing special since coming back, it’s just business as usual. As most bands twiddled their thumbs worrying about their futures, Barney didn’t give it a second thought. “I never sat at home and fretted about what if people forget about us and stuff like that. It wasn’t pleasant, it was easier for me because I live alone and I live a fairly simple existence, so was easy for me to deal with whereas a lot of people I know really struggled, so I certainly wasn’t going to waste my time worrying about the presence of NAPALM DEATH.”
And why should he? NAPALM DEATH came and conquered Download Festival 2022, leaving a delicious taste for heaviness in the mouth like the fine wine they’ve always been.
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