With the whirlwind that Bandcamp has become it’s almost becoming hard to notice bands nowadays. The turn out with records is phenomenal and almost difficult to comprehend at times. Try as I may to keep up, it seems like there is just no way. Though the really good ones, like Napalm Christ, always tend to break through and make themselves known.
Napalm Christ is a more recent edition to the excellent A389 Records roster. The sludge aficionados were signed on a few months ago and the label has decided to give their 2013 demo a proper vinyl and digital release with a remastering. I say about damn time. Let’s do this shit.
Napalm Christ is a band I found myself excited about shortly after I first heard them. Though I was unfortunately unable to review their demo when it originally came out. Napalm Christ is a band that is an odd enigma because they are at once everything they appear to be and at the same time not. Confused? That’s understandable. At their core they’re a sludge band. Tracks tend to follow a slower pace, songs are long (two of which are over nine minutes), the band pulls from a variety of genres but the pieces as a whole point out a singular genre.
However, the band still remains a hybrid. Nothing they do is neck-breaking or very speed driven. For example, “Burning Away the Scourge” is very punk driven for one part (first verse). The piece chugs along, and is very up beat. However the song is approached a little slower with a nice metal lick thrown in the middle. And much of the remainder of the song continues to push the sludge theme. Even the melodic part is dipped in it, pushing ever so slowly but still thick and heavy.
“Despoilment of War” has a very similar attitude. The piece comes across as thrash influenced but journeys into the genre only enough to get its feet wet. It’s as though Napalm Christ steps into these waters and says, “Yeah, we can do that. But that’s not what we’re all about.” It’s one of the few bands that remains so firmly rooted that it actually feels like it’s turning other genres into its own.
Other pieces like “Life is Dimming” and “Reclaimed by the Earth” are drenched in sludge and brimming with melody, yet still devastating. In ways it reminds me of slower sections of Starkweather without the screeching vocals. However Napalm Christ are more akin to bands like Thou; long songs, slow music most of the time.
Napalm Christ is a hybrid but they feel so firmly set in their was that its impossible for me to call them a “grind sludge” band or a “thrash infused sludge unit” because it doesn’t feel right. Truly they only belong to one genre. Kinda like how Converge is a hardcore band in the way they carry themselves, but if you put it down on paper, well, face it: they’re a metal band structurally, and no amount of pussyfooting or creative excuses will change that. But that’s a topic for another (probably never-to-be-written) article. Napalm Christ know what they do and they do it well. Those that have enjoyed bands like Thou, Noothgrush or Greif will find Napalm Christ a welcome edition to their catalog.
As always, you can find me here.
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