I’ve been a Napalm Death fan for a long time. When I first started Teufel’s Tomb 9 years ago, the Napalm Death fan page was one of the very first things I created, eventually it became the official site, for a short time. I liked everything they did, from Scum to their latest full length Order Of The Leech, and almost everything in between, with the exception of Words From The Exit Wound, which was just terrible on almost every level imaginable. I even lost my virginity with Napalm Death blaring on the stereo, seriously! Well… technically I didn’t "lose" it, it’s not like I passed out and was missing my wallet, my pants and my virginity had disappeared, but… well, actually, it was similar to that as I can barely remember it considering how high I was at the time, but that’s a different story for a different time.

When I found out Earache Records were compiling a two disc ‘best of’ Napalm Death release with the help of the band, I admit to being incredibly skeptical. Now that the album has been released, and I’ve listened to it a few times, I’m still not 100% sold that this was a worthy investment for a diehard fan, such as myself. Disc one is basically the ‘best of’ Napalm Death full lengths released on Earache Records. It’s filled with classics like Scum, The Kill, Deceiver, Hung, Plague Rages, Unchallenged Hate, Greed Killing, "Suffer The Children", "If The Truth Be Known", "Social Sterility" and the Dead Kennedys cover "Nazi Punk Fuck Off". It doesn’t really offer anything extra, at least not anything the average Napalm Death fan hasn’t already heard, but it is offer a really good starting point for people new to the band to decide which era best suits their tastes.

Disc two, on the other hand, is packed with rare goodies. Included is the entire Mentally Murdered EP, as well as a bunch of bonus tracks that were included in the re-issues of most of the earlier Napalm Death discs, as well as a couple of demo and live tracks. The majority of the ‘rare’ material featured on discs one and two was already released on Death By Manipulation back in 1991, namely, everything from the Mentally Murdered EP, and the ‘best of’ tracks from Scum, From Enslavement To Obliteration and Harmony Corruption. The bonus tracks from Utopia Banished and Fear, Emptiness, Despair are already available in the newer re-issues of both discs. Since I didn’t own the re-issue of Fear, Emptiness, Despair I was rather happy that the bonus tracks were included, since it is my all-time favorite Napalm Death album, but I’d already heard the stuff from Utopia Banished so I wasn’t as impressed that it was included in the set.

The only material that is truly new and rare is Napalm Death’s live cover of Godflesh’s "Avalanche", which was honestly pretty flat, the demo versions of "Upwards And Uninterested" and "I Abstain", which sound so much like the final versions I seriously question why they were included. Also included were "Politics Of Common Sense" from the split with At The Gates that was previously only available for sale during the two bands’ tour back in the day. The remainder of the disc is the "gold mine", featuring previously unreleased or nearly impossible to locate songs from the earlier stages of Napalm Death, including "Internal Animosity" from the Pathological compilation that features Lee Dorrian on vocals and three tracks from the North Atlantic Noise Attack compilation that include rare material that features both Dorrian and Bill Steer. The disc also features Pete Coleman mixes of "Remain Nameless" and "Twist The Knife (Slowly)", which, apart from being unpolished, aren’t really any different than the studio releases. The final three tracks are live recordings from ‘86/’87 that have a really rough, raw sound to them.

Overall, was this a worthwhile release? Well… technically, I loved pretty much every song included in the set, however, I’d already heard almost all of it before. For the average fan who doesn’t own everything by Napalm Death then this album is a must-own. For the diehard fans, it’s worth getting if you want to complete the discography, but not necessary since chances are, with the exception of the demo/early era live material, you’ve heard it all before. The one rarity I was sort of hoping would be there but wasn’t was the Napalm Death vs. Delta 9 mix for "Breed To Breathe" from Earache’s techno/metal remix compilation; Hellspawn. I’m sure it sounded terrible, but I was still curious to see how techno would mix with Napalm Death. Oh well… it’s still 150 minutes packed onto two discs for less than $15, which is well worth it for fans new and old.

Written By: Teufel