Smear Campaign (CD - 2006)

Personnel: Anneke van Giersbergen (vocals); Mitch Harris (sound effects).

Additional personnel: Anneke van Giersbergen.

Audio Mixer: Russ "Risky Russ" Russell.

Recording information: Foel Studios, Llanfair Caernon, Wales (05/13/2006-06/10/2006).

Photographer: Kevin Estrada.

SMEAR CAMPAIGN, the 2006 follow-up to THE CODE IS RED LONG LIVE THE CODE, finds Napalm Death working off that record's momentum by offering up another furious round of 21st-century grindcore. Recorded in the contrastingly serene Welsh countryside, the album features all of the veteran British metal band's trademarks, most notably Mark "Barney" Greenway's growling vocals and Danny Herrera's pummeling rhythms, as showcased on the fierce anti-religion screed "Fatalist."

When Napalm Death first hit the scene in the '80s, plenty of detractors must have thought that their brand of extreme metal was just a passing fad, and would soon go away. Now 20 years later, guess who's having the last laugh (especially since the group has long been considered one of the first-ever grindcore bands, and easily one of the most influential/copied metal bands of the era)? And despite 2006's Smear Campaign being the group's umpteenth release, the band's assault-on-your-senses approach is still very much intact -- particularly evident by singer Mark "Barney" Greenway, who still lives to scream his head off at every given opportunity (especially on such tracks as "Sink Fast, Let Go" and "Freedom Is the Wage of Sin"). Some artists enjoy reinventing themselves with each and every release. Not Napalm Death, which is reassuring in a way (you know exactly what lies therein with each successive brutal release) -- and Smear Campaign certainly doesn't disappoint. ~ Greg Prato minimize