Napalm Death @ Classic Grand (21st February 2020)
with: Eyehategod, Misery Index, Rotten Sound and Bat
Hosted by: Hamilton Hunter
WORDS: Ross Donald
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Another weekend and another wet and windy night in the city of Glasgow with reported floods in certain areas. Even with all that going on though, it wasn’t anywhere near close to deterring me from attending what promised to be one of the best extreme metal lineups of the year. I was a bit worried that we would have a similar situation to the Fleshgod Apocalypse fiasco from the week (that show was also booked by Hamilton Hunter for the still unopened Slay venue before being relocated the week before). Thankfully this show didn't seem to be affected badly by the change from what I could see. So was this candidate for best metal show for the year? Let’s see….
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Thankfully they were up to the task, as half an hour of pretty standard thrash was a good way to get the energy levels of the crowd flowing upwards, and they had a majority of the crowd headbanging along. I don’t have a note of the setlist but from what I heard, most of the tracks came from their 2016 full release Wings of Chains as I recognised the title track as well as ‘You Die’, ‘Ritual Fool’, and ‘Cruel Discipline’. It’s a fine album and it’s only 29 minutes of pure thrash so it’s short enough that it doesn’t become tiresome and leaves you wanting more.
This was also a pretty apt description of this set. Fun, short, not drawn out, and filled with some insanely good solos. Good start and I’m sure some new fans were made that night.
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On second were the Finnish grindcore veterans Rotten Sound. In researching a bit of the band, I was surprised to see that they formed all the way back in 1993. I thought they were a younger band and this certainly came across that way on stage.
I was interested to see how they would come across live given that most of their tracks barely scrape the 2 minute mark most of the time. The band already had a solution for this though as they combined most of their tracks to make longer tracks, which was a pretty fun move. Again I don’t have the setlist for this one as I don’t know the tracks too well, but I can tell you that I enjoyed the hell out of them.
Not put off by the energy shown by the band before, Rotten Sound brought the intensity in freaking spades. Their set was essentially just a wall of noise for half an hour in the best way possible, with chunky riffs and growling death metal vocals aplenty. Rotten Sound were the first band of the night to receive a pit and they certainly freaking earned it with an almost show stealing performance. You couldn’t help but move your body along to the grind. At this point I could have went home happy, which is probably the best compliment I can give to a support band.
Make sure you catch them if you have a chance. You won’t regret it but you might have trouble catching your breath afterwards.
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Next up was Misery Index from Baltimore, Maryland. Their style geared more towards death metal with some influences from hardcore, grindcore and a dash of thrash to really make for a genuinely heavy listen.
Aside from the headliner, this is the band I was looking forward to the most as I fell in love with their 2019 release Rituals of Power looking into the band. I can safely say that this was a release from last year that I genuinely regret overlooking as it- much like their set- was almost 40 minutes of pure insanity. It genuinely seemed like every band was adding a new layer of energy that night and I was freaking loving it.
The band started off well with heavy hits ‘Embracing Extinction’ and ‘The Spectator’ before firing right into ‘The Great Depression’ that just took the energy levels to a whole other level. You’d think they were the headliners with how hard they were shredding. I was looking forward to hearing tracks from last year’s album and they delivered in fantastic fashion. My favourite track on the record is‘New Salem’ as it’s such an absolute ripper that will have you headbanging no matter your music taste. Thankfully it was no different in person. One of the last two tracks played was ‘Hammering the Nails’, which is another highlight from the latest record and it worked the pit into what seemed like an absolute frenzy. The last track ‘Traitors’ then left a mark that everyone in attendance will surely remember for some time to come.
An awesome set from a band I hope to see again in the not-so-distant future.
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With two more bands still to play, there was a bit of a risk of losing the energy with three already awesome sets, so thankfully New Orleans sludge metal band Eyehategod came at us with something a bit slower while keeping the required heaviness intact.
Their sound is quite unique as well as they have the aforementioned sludge combined with a bit of hardcore, doom metal, and even a bit of grunge, making one filthy package played with a ton of attitude. They even told a guy at the front (who’s birthday it was) that they hope he dies! Kind of hilarious after Misery Index had previously wished him a happy birthday.
I don’t know much of their set, but by looking at the setlists online, I could see that they did play a nice mix of classics along with some newer stuff to keep the crowd happy. Speaking of which, a fight appeared to break out on the right side of the crowd to disrupt the ambience. Thankfully, the security was quick to stop it and the band kept going as if nothing was happening though.
It seemed like the set was cut short, as the bookers did say that it would last around 50 minutes but it barely lasted 40. This was slightly disappointing in the end, but at least the band made the most with another fun set.
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And finally, after four solid support bands, it was time for the main event with the masters of grindcore: Napalm Death.
I may be skipping ahead a bit when I say this but, holy shit, this is one of the best live performances I’ve ever seen from a metal band (outside of Maiden). I mean, these guys are in their fifties now and bands half their age could only dream of playing as fast and ferocious as these legends did. It got to a point where you couldn’t even headbang in time without doing yourself a good bit of whiplash, and the pit was so mental that it looked like a group of piranhas going after helpless prey. I didn’t dare venture in.
While every member was great though, it was lead vocalist Barney Greenway who stole the show with that commanding death metal growl that just never let up. Even when he wasn’t on the mic, he was dancing around the stage like an absolute madman, as if he was one with the music being played. It was just a joy to watch. In between tracks, he conveyed messages of peace between nations like England and Scotland, spoke out against pointless sectarianism, and cursed corporations in very typical Napalm Death fashion. Hearing such inspiring messages to hear during some of the harshest music known to man was a bit of a weird experience, I will say.
As for the setlist, it was pretty much perfect as they managed to cover almost all of their previous works so there was something for everyone. The longer tracks such as ‘Suffer the Children’ and ‘When All is Said and Done’ offered the most fun generally, but the more recent and shorter brutal cut ‘Smash a Single Digit’ ended up being a favourite of mine. We even had a bit of crowd participation with a cover of the Dead Kennedy’s ‘Nazi Punks Fuck Off’. Great to see them working such a nice big crowd to shout of "Fuck off" to fascists. Tons of fun.
The band even played their new EP in full with ‘Logic Ravaged By Brute Force’, showing that the band hasn’t lost any lustre in their songwriting skill, and their cover of Sonic Youth’s ‘White Kross’ made for a fun way to end the show. Before this though, the band also had time to play their famous one-second long tracks ‘You Suffer’ and ‘Dead’, with Barney suggesting that they have different complexities in a funny moment.
There’s not much more I can say about this set other than give my highest recommendations to check out the band ASAP if you already haven’t, and make sure you check them out live at least once. It’s an experience you’ll never forget.
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Thanks to Ross for his review of Napalm Death at the Classic Grand, and thanks to you for checking this out! Feel free to leave a comment below or you can help support RWEI by giving us a like/follow on the socials. As always, we're open to submissions and/or contributions from bands and writers in Glasgow and beyond so give us an email or message if you're interested.
Cheers!
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