Leave it to Earache Records to fuck up the simplest of matters, due to the label’s constant bungling Words From The Exit Wound didn’t reach North American soil until seven months after it’s European release. For this, and many other reasons, the band decided to leave their long-time label. However, I’m getting ahead of myself here. In 1998, while still on the label, the band released their first full length with all members participating since Diatribes (as you may recall their last CD Inside The Torn Apart was written without Barney, he only contributed vocals upon returning to the group). Most people realize that I am the editor of the Official Napalm Death Website and are probably expecting me to be highly biased in my opinion of the release, well, anyone who’s read my reviews should realize to never expect anything with me. After listening to the CD I found myself somewhat disappointed, yet not fully understanding what about the release let me down. As with any Napalm Death release, there are plenty of highlights. The songs that stick out in my mind are "Next Of Kin To Chaos", which is one of the slower paced tracks yet still a very catchy tune, "Ulterior Exterior" which is one of the quicker paced tracks on the album and reminds me a lot of their earlier material and "Incendiary Incoming" which is just a good, solid, very catchy track. There are other songs which have parts I can get into, but for the most part, they just don’t keep my attention for long. The album features a few sections of Barney "singing", which is nothing more than Barney doing a few spoken words before blaring out, much as he did on Fear Emptiness Despair. Musically the band has taken two steps back and one step in a new direction. My favorite Napalm Death albums happen to be the earlier material (up to and including Harmony Corruption) as well as Fear Emptiness Despair and Diatribes, unfortunately Words From The Exit Wound has more of a Utopia Banished sound, however with a lot of the feel from Inside The Torn Apart, neither of which are among my favorite albums. I’m very glad to see Napalm Death are still playing heavy and aggressive music, and Barney’s vocals are as great as ever, I just didn’t find enough in their latest full-length to have me want to keep the album in my CD player for any length of time. Still a decent effort, but it could have been better.

Written By: Teufel