In the past few years British grindcore pioneers have been undergoing a rebirth of sorts, beginning with their first non-Earache offering Leaders Not Followers in 1999, featuring six cover songs of bands that were greatly influential on Napalm Death’s sound. The release was the band’s first all-out heavy and fast assault since the early 90s and showed hints of the band returning to their old form as kings of grind. 5 years since that release, Napalm Death, down to a four-piece with guitarist Jesse Pintado parting ways with the group earlier in the year, continue to revert back into the raging grindahol-fueled beast they’d started out as in the 80s with 19 more cover tracks of bands who’ve inspired them throughout their earlier years. The album starts out with an ultra thrashy cover of Cryptic Slaughter’s "Lowlife" with the speed, rage and energetic fury of pre-Harmony Corruption Napalm Death. Following this is a raging cover of Offenders‘ "Face Down In The Dirt", with Barney barking faster than ever as the band tears through the track at breakneck speed. A cover of Devastation’s "Devastation" follows, but fails to impress, then again, I’ve never been a fan of Devastation to begin with. Hellhammer’s "Messiah" is up next and is easily one of the strongest songs on the album, because, as everyone well knows, the only thing better than a brilliant cover of a Hellhamer song is an original, and a brilliant cover is exactly what’s in store, just pure groovin’ death metal. This is followed by a punkthrashing rendition of Anti-Cimex’s "Victims Of A Bomb Raid", which is a solid catchy tune. "Fright Night" from Wehrmact follows and is one of those skipable tracks, mostly due to Barney’s trademark vocal approach doesn’t really fit the music that well, but the music itself is covered extremely well. From there it’s moshing time with Discharge’s "War’s No Fairytale", which perfectly captures the essence of the group and will literally leave you ape-stepping about flailing your limbs about aimlessly. The groups then cover Siege’s "Conform", and, while fast, is yet another skipable track, although for some reason I can’t help but laugh every time I hear Barney bark "Monkey See, Monkey Do!" After that is a rendition of Master’s "Master". Being I’ve never liked Master, I can’t really be bothered to spend any time listening to the cover. Thankfully Insanity’s "Fire Death Fate" is next and brings the album back up to speed and is a pummeling thrashing grindfest. Things slow down and groove up when they cover Kreator’s "Riot Of Violence", which displays some decently impressive guitar work by Mitch Harris. The second Anti-Cimex cover, "Game Of The Arseholes", is up next and continues the same pace as the "Victims Of A Bomb Raid" cover. Massacre’s "Clangor Of War" is covered next and may actually be more impressive than the original with a ripping guitar chug tearing throughout the track. Attitude Adjustment’s "Dope Fiend" is a fast punkthrash track from a group I’d previously never even heard of. "I’m Tired" by Die Kreuzen squawks by next and is just an incredibly abrasive and ear shreddingly strange-tempoed song. Surprisingly Sepultura get the cover treatment as well, as the Brits bash their way through "Troops Of Doom". Honestly, everything about this song sounds completely out of place, from the guitar pitch to the vocals, nothing sounds "right", and I find this to be one of the poorest tracks on the release. Even stranger is the cover of Dayglo Abortions‘ "Bedtime Story", which is yet another song that doesn’t sound at all right with Barney’s vocals, though I may be biased considering I’ve listened to the original song hundreds of times, thanks to my old school punk-loving roommate, and am partial to it. This if followed by an aggressive cover of Agnostic Front’s "Blind Justice" and finally "Hate, Fear And Power" by Hirax which is fast, furious and super short; a perfect ending indeed. While I’m not a huge fan of cover songs to begin with, let along cover albums, Napalm Death do a solid job and do the majority of the bands justice, though there are a few misses, but for the most part the album is a hit. Musically this album is easily the angriest and grindiest Napalm Death release since From Enslavement To Obliteration and should quickly start shutting up the grind purists who’ve been bagging the band for years. This is definitely a great prequel to the band’s next full length offering. If you love old school thrash, hardcore and punk and love Napalm Death, this is a definite must buy release and a huge pleasant surprise.

Written By: Teufel