Apex Predator - Easy Meat

For the past decade, the members of Napalm Death have been continually revitalizing their career and my interest in the band by cranking out exceptional releases that rival their early work. While Napalm Death could choose to coast on its legacy and continue to tour on a "greatest hits" set list, the band instead keeps cranking out solid albums filled with energetic songs that eclipse the efforts of bands half its age.

Napalm Death's latest, Apex Predator - Easy Meat, is no different. The songs have the same energy and quality that we have come to expect from the recent string of Napalm Death albums. The band manages to make noise that's catchy, though it may take several listens to grasp. The album kicks off with industrial pounding and strange chanted vocals, but shortly thereafter Napalm Death plows straight into its trademarked sound. A great deal of the album consists of the band's typical blasting grind chaos and punky guitar chords. At times, eerie dissonance and ringing chords provide some breathing room before the band returns to blasting away. Intermittent straightforward chugging provides respite as well and gives the listener a chance to groove along before the proceedings descend back into barely-controlled chaos. These brief moments of relief not only make the album endurable, but also make it extremely enjoyable.

It's likely that the songs are so memorable because there are three different guys contributing to the writing and bringing their own styles to the table. Aside from the fact that the music is catchy in its own right, there's a wealth of vocal variety that gives the songs plenty of distinction. Greenway, Harris, and Embury all contribute vocally and provide the album with not only the standard growls and screams, but also chanting, sickly moans, and unsettling groans. "Dear Slum Landlord" and "Hierarchies" are both good examples of the creepy vocal varieties while "Stunt Your Growth" has an oddly-layered effect. Of course no matter how the lyrics are delivered, Napalm Death continues to rail against the injustices of the world.

With Apex Predator - Easy Meat, Napalm Death succeeds at the challenging job of making noisy chaos into something catchy. The band manages to make the off-kilter and queasy actually seem appealing. Apex Predator - Easy Meat may be essentially more of the same when compared to the band's work from the past decade, but when it's this good, one really can't complain. Fans of the band's recent output need to snatch this up. Old fans who strayed during the band's mid-career slump might want to check back in and see what they've been missing. Apex Predator - Easy Meat is a truly timeless flogging.

Originally written for http://www.metalpsalter.com