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Napalm Death: Bootlegged in Japan
Napalm Death - Bootlegged in Japan - [Earache Records]

2003-10-25

Grateful Dead they will never be, but someone
found it profitable to release a recording of
this show (made through the sound-board), and
sell it. As the owner of a Brazilian Napalm Death
boot-leg, I can attest that sound-quality is
probably never a concern for people trying to
make some quick money off the bands labors.
It’s just noise, anyway’, you say. That’s
precisely the problem. To the un-trained ear
(especially early period) Napalm Death is taxing
on the listener and stereo on their regular,
‘legitimate’ releases.

I still remember hearing “Rise Above” on vinyl
for the first time over ten years ago, and
thinking something was very wrong with my
turntable. The same thing happened when I took
the EP over to a friend’s record player. At
first, Bill Steer’s spaghetti-like guitar strings
seemed as densely tuned as possible (bands who
want to seem ominous usually tune to ‘D’. Napalm
Death tune to ‘B’, where their tremolo-picking
just about sends the strings to the floor.). Then
the “singing” begins. My friend, Neil, and I fell
on the floor, laughing in disbelief that anyone
could sound like that. It was lo-fi before that
became cool (Guided by Voices back then were
still a hobby band, and their albums just sounded
like…crap), but you could still suss out the fact
that the drummer had about ten arms, and was
going full-speed ahead with them on this “verse”.
It sounded quite a bit like a helicopter with
drumsticks taped to the blades. I, who previously
thought that D.R.I. were one of the fastest bands
in the land, was totally speechless. Not only was
this amazingly quick (about twice as speedy as
primo Slayer), but the singer! Lee
Dorrian, a mild looking fellow, couldn’t possibly
be human. ‘What’s he growling about?’ said
Neil, snatching the sleeve out of my hand, so he
could read the lyrics off the back. Instead of a
dissertation on Beelzebub’s finer points, or
diatribes against women (popular lyrical jaunts
in the heavier spectrum of rock), these are,
oddly, what Neil read back to me: “At time of
birth, minds free from suspicion, senses raped,
induced with superstition. A pre-set mode to
befit description, language, colour, race
definition. Inner strength must detect the love
we each possess before we may reach, appreciating
it in anyone else. External distinctions used as
scapegoats to problems, channeling our aggression
in the wrong direction. Break down the barriers
that enforce superstition. Learn to trust,
overcome suspicion. Acceptance, the weapon,
active against our freedom, our love and
compassion held at treason. Rise above induced
superstition.”


All we heard was: Crushing Riff…Growls…FM
Radio-Static bass… Growls…machine-gun (a
‘blast-beat’) drums…Growls. As the brief
maelstrom ended, Dorrian’s last line rang out
after the barrage had already climaxed
“…superstitionnnnnnnnnnn!”, with the last
syllable sounding like a wounded minotaur. How on
earth can the combination of bass, drums,
guitars, and vocals reap such an earth-pounding
dividend?

This was my introduction to Napalm Death. They
had just broken through the ‘They can’t really
play. It’s all a big joke.’ Phase, and were
entering a more progressive one. One where there
.075 second-long songs (really) of old were
replaced by ones that approached, and at times,
went beyond the two-minute mark.

Lee and Bill did a tour of Japan, before calling
it a day, and Mark ‘Barney’ Greenway, an
occasional roadie, and American pen-pal Jesse
Pintado joined up. They played for a bit, touring
with Morbid Angel, and other like-minded acts,
before another American pen-friend Mitch Harris
jumped aboard.

Bootlegged in Japan was recorded at the
Liquid Rooms in Tokyo, in 1996, while The End of
Music As We Know It were plugging their finest
(at the time) album, Diatribes. The
line-up to this group has been in flux somewhat,
but drummer Danny Herrera (who replaced Mick ‘the
Human Tornado’ Harris) has been in the fold since
1991. With the post-Diatribes re-instatement of
Greenway (he felt Diatribes a little soft,
and that ND was no longer much of a democracy,
but changed his mind), Napalm Death continue to
be the most intense live band on earth -- without
really trying.

This concert document is a prime example.
Psychotic tempo episodes meet brief melodic
moments. There’s plenty of the former to
counter-balance the latter. Barney, in an early
interview claimed that too much melody would
“bore the tits off” him, so subsequent cd’s are a
strong mish-mash of both styles. At times you
almost feel like you’re listening to a less-whiny
Smashing Pumpkins, especially on “Cursed to
Crawl”, which bassist Shane Embury sings most of.

Outside of Merzbow’s peak moments, you’re not
likely to hear a band quite like Napalm Death
ever again. Merzbow (composer Masami Akita’s
prolific noise excursion) comes close. I
said “close”. You’ll find Merzbow in the
‘Electronic Music’ section anyway. This is a must
have, for when someone tells you about how
‘out-there’ the new Metallica is. Throw
Bootlegged in Japan on, and invite them to
have a tall, frosty glass of shuthefuckup.

Jason Thornberry



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