Smear Campaign

Recorded 2006 Review: Having returned with a vengeance with their last outing, The Code Is Red..., Napalm Death are out to prove yet again that there's still plenty of piss & vinegar left in the machine. Smear Campaign is ferocious & focused intensity, plain & simple. In the quarter century Napalm Death have been breaking new ground, their fiercely brutal sound has retained fans, converted new ones & remained true to itself. Let the Smear Campaign begin! Smear Campaign is Napalm Death's best record in a decade. I'm not saying that their records since 1996 have been sub par, far from it. But Smear Campaign is their most focused arsenal of grindcore in a long time. Barney is in top form and sounds as if he's going to jump through your speakers & throttle you. You can tell that this is the subject matter (religion) that Greenway has wanted to tackle in-depth for a long time. Puritanical Punishment Beating may be the best song that Napalm Death has ever recorded. That's a bold statement but everything clicks on this showcase track from a nasty array of riffs to signature time changes & raging vox. As usual, Shane Embury holds the madness together with his stellar bass work & Danny Herrera continues to amaze with his super human blast beats. Mitch Harris seems to work better alone because since the departure & untimely death of Jesse Pintado, Harris seems to have stepped up his playing & carried Napalm on his shoulders. This is a must have for ND fans & grindcore fans in general...an inspired effort. 1. Weltschmerz 2. Sink Fast, Let Go 3. Fatalist 4. Puritanical Punishment Beating 5. Well All Is Said And Done 6. Freedom Is The Wage Of Sin 7. In Deference 8. Short Lived 9. Identity Crisis 10. Shattered Existence 11. Eyes Right Out 12. Warped Beyond Logic 13. Rabid Wolves (For Christ) 14. Deaf And Dumbstruck 15. Persona Nongrata 16. Smear Campaign