Band:	Napalm Death
Album:	Apex Predator - Easy Meat
Style:	Grindcore
Release date:	January 26, 2015
A review by:	Auntie Sahar

01. Apex Predator - Easy Meat
02. Smash A Single Digit
03. Metaphorically Screw You
04. How The Years Condemn
05. Stubborn Stains
06. Timeless Flogging
07. Dear Slum Landlord?
08. Cesspits
09. Bloodless Coup
10. Beyond The Pale
11. Stunt Your Growth
12. Hierarchies
13. Caste As Waste [Japanese bonus]
14. One-Eyed
15. What Is Past Is Prologue [limited edition bonus]
16. Oh So Pseudo [limited edition bonus]
17. Adversarial / Copulating Snakes
18. Clouds Of Cancer / Victims Of Ignorance [G-ANX cover] [limited edition bonus]
19. Critical Gluttonous Mass [LP bonus]
20. Paracide [Gepøpel cover] [Japanese bonus]

Call me a late bloomer of sorts to the grind kings in Napalm Death, as I first got into the band not through the classics such as Scum and From Enslavement To Obliteration, as most do, but through the much more recent Time Waits For No Slave. It was the Barney-fronted incarnation of the band that I first fell in love with, so I'm more than happy to say that they're once again delivering the goods with their 2015 effort.

Apex Predator - Easy Meat is essentially the natural continuation of the band's previous two albums, and it's thus very likely that if you enjoyed those, you'll appreciate this one as well. What more can it be described as other than Napalm Death doing what Napalm Death do best? The tracks thunder away like a stampede of wildebeests, pounding you into oblivion with their tales of anti corporatism and wage slaves (and ground beef?). The album also retains a good degree of the death metal influence found in the band's previous efforts, and it shows in the catchy, somewhat bouncy nature of a lot of the riffs at work throughout it ("Stubborn Stains," "Bloodless Coup," etc). As usual, the production is also very well rounded, with no part of the music really feeling too smothered. Though Barney and Mitch Harris dominate, we can still pleasantly hear Danny Herrera tearing shit up on the kit and Shane Embury rattling along with the 5 string.

When details about Apex Predator - Easy Meat were originally announced, the band's statement seemed to imply that the album would be a little more experimental than usual, and while Napalm Death somewhat overstated the extent to which it is, it still is pleasantly unique in some areas. The opening title track, for example, with its eerie spoken word, serves as an interesting introduction to the carnage that follows, and somewhat reminds me of the same technique employed in "Evolved As One" so long, long ago. "Dear Slum Landlord" (debuted at Roadburn 2014) meanwhile takes an incredibly heavy and almost doom-ish approach, with Barney utilizing his (underrated, in my opinion) clean vocals rather than his trademark growls. While perhaps small areas of note, these little things do nonetheless serve a delightfully curious contrast to the no-holds-barred aggression that runs rampant throughout the majority of the album.

It's very rare for bands that pioneer a certain genre or style to still remain relevant to it years after doing so, and for this, on Apex Predator - Easy Meat Napalm Death must certainly be applauded. Losing none of the fury that has come to define the band, while also utilizing some techniques typically uncommon for the grind style, they succeed in crafting something that retains cornerstones of the music they helped create, but with enough distinction of personality to not make things seem incredibly boring and overdone. These are veterans showing us how the art of war is properly conducted, and it can't be summed up more simply than that.