Napalm Death

Napalm Death’s incredible sequence of line-up changes down the years means I’m not entirely positive who’s in the band now. Those aging masses of sweat and hair looked like singer Barney Greenway and guitarist Shane Embury. The inscrutable bassist with the air of heavy cool must have been Jesse Pintado, while their manic drummer (Danny Herrera is it?) sat tiny, but mysterious, behind his drum kit.

Their usually mental ‘mosh pit’ consisted more of a few isolated patches of mosh near the front – it seems a lot of the fans are either past that kind of carry-on or are taking an ironic rather than an active interest in these eminent legends of grindcore. But the band who probably put the ‘Death’ in ‘Death Metal’ are still loud, angry and raring to rock.

Their live highlights still include the furious title track from their 1987 debut album Scum (although none of these guys were actually in the band when it originally came out) and what sounded like ‘Necessary Evil’ was greeted with almost as much passion as which it was growled.

An excellent cover of the Dead Kennedy’s ‘Nazi Punks – FUCK OFF!’ was the most cockle-warming moment, proving that Napalm Death’s hearts are most definitely in the right place.