2018 will mark three years since Napalm Death's 2015 album Apex Predator – Easy Meat, and considering Napalm Death has released a new album every three years since 2006, it stands to reason that it's likely time for a new one.
Frontman Barney Greenway tells Metal Wani that the band will begin work on a new album soon, and that Napalm Death won't be vying for commercial airplay with it. Essentially, if you've been enjoying the fact that Napalm Death still goes as hell and includes a lot of really diverse elements into its sound, then you're going to like the new one.
"We're gonna start working on it soon. There's primary work being done right now. It's just in the first stages, really, so there's nothing really solid to tell. It's just in the preliminary stage, basically.
"Our way of approaching things is always the same. Every time we make an album or such, the thought in our minds is not, 'How can we finally put our button on the secret to commercial success?' It doesn't roll that way with us. We simply try and make a combination of the best and most extreme that we feel we can at the time. Now, I think the one thing I would say is that in terms of making a good blend of the very traditional Napalm stuff — the fast stuff — to the more skewed kind of Napalm stuff, which is that, if you like, post-punk noise sort of very avantgarde stuff mixed in, I think we're starting to get better and better with that in terms of the mix; it's quite seamless now, in my opinion. And that side of things is what has seemed to make more and more people interested. Because I know a lot of bands' record sales are decreasing, but ours are going up."
Greenway also confirms that despite having been absent from the road since 2014, guitarist Mitch Harris is still in the band. Harris has been in Napalm Death since 1989, and has not toured with the band the past few years in order to focus on his family life.
"Mitch is still a member of the band as such. This is a situation that we're still working on now. As is quite obvious to people, Mitch hasn't been able to tour with us. I've gotta be honest — we don't know whether that situation is gonna change or not; we just don't. But we're not people to do anything drastic with that situation. We don't see things as irretrievable. So we are working on it right now. Mitch is still a member of the band. He most likely will record with us on the next album as things are; in fact, I think it's pretty dead set that he will. And that's it, really. There's nothing sinister behind it. It's a set of circumstances that have kind of worked out that way."
Considering how good Apex Predator – Easy Meat, I personally am extremely excited to hear where the band goes with the new stuff. This particular incarnation of Napalm Death has largely been together since 1991, and they're only getting better at their craft.
