Napalm Death: Live at the Canyon Club, Las Vegas

It was a windy night when Christine and I headed down town to the Canyon Club on Fremont Street. After parking, my fiance and I headed to the venue to check the place out and get ready to meet with Jenny, Napalm's manager, to arrange for an interview with Barney Greenway, frontman for Napalm Death.
    Napalm is recognized as the undisputed father of Grindcore heavy metal. They are truly one of the most influential bands in the grindcore/ death metal scene and have been melting our ears off with sheer sonic terror since the early eighties. Even the progenitors of American and European extreme metal such as Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse and others can be traced to Napalm's brutal, devastating approach that combines walls of sonic noise, syncopated, precise time changes, blast beats and blazing tremolo-picked riffs. Napalm is also the first band of the genre to be played on the radio. Not only that, they were heavily requested too boot.
    Napalm Death's skills were expertly displayed during the show that night. As I stood next to the speakers I was amazed at how insanely loud they were while still sounding tightly polished, like clockwork. Every instrument could be heard perfectly, every nuance of Mitch Harris' guitar playing cut through the mix like a hot blade through butter. I especially loved the occasional artificial harmonic squeals Mitch uses to accent his riffs that add tension and always manage to shine through with blazing clarity. Danny Herreras'  drums rocked, pummeling the audience with pure, perfectly timed sonic mayhem. I was especially impressed with Shane Emburys' bass sound and performance- it cut through the mix like a scalpel with that perfect, glassy sound I so love. This was even more impressive knowing that Shane plays his Warrick bass straight through the house PA with no amp! It was like watching a "fire for effect" artillery barrage of sounds and sights aimed straight at any true metal head's soul. This was true Grindcore and absolutely brutal metal at its finest.
    When we arrived at the venue, Christine and I were greeted by Jenny, given our credentials, and then taken to meet the band. The excitement was palatable, more like you could almost taste it in the air as we waited outside in line, chatting with the other fans. Then, Jenny appeared and whisked us away into the venue to meet Barney, Napalms' frontman, before following him outside, through the fans and into his trailer. The excitement was almost killing me by now as we sat down in the freezing front compartment of the RV for a brief chat. What follows is a bit of an insight into Barney's world of metal and a small foray into Tag Heuer watches.

M-So you were the first Grindcore band to be requested on the radio, namely college radio-
BG- I never knew that.
M- I remember reading that Napalm Death was on college radios...
BG- I never knew that man. I mean (sic) on college...
M- Yeah, it was on a time when that kind of music was strictly underground and people were passing tapes around, things like that.
M- So what have you guys been doing lately?
BG- Well, pretty much what you see. We've been touring like crazy, which
is a good thing because people want to see us and we'll go and play. It's a pretty simple sort of equation, really.
CS- I was amazed to hear you guys were touring.
BG- Yeah, yeah... we're always pretty much touring.
M- I see you have a Tag Heuer watch on too, just as I do.
BG- This is old, man, you know, I've had this since I was in the band, and I've only changed the battery once. I don't have many things extravagant... I'm a very sort of simple living person... but I've always liked watches and this is the last one I need to buy because it's so good.
M- Yeah I've had mine for about ten years now and it's been through the ringer. So, as I said, you're probably one of the most influential bands in the scene. What do you think of the new scene?
BG- I find it interesting. It's difficult to keep up with so many bands, you know. I just kind of take an overview, just like in life. Some stuff I like and some I don't so much. It's just the way it is really. The only sort of thing I would say... possibly critically, back in the 80s, during that time... bands were making tapes in their bedrooms, pretty much. But, even on that limited, kind of shoestring budget... there was more of a sense of writing songs. I mean you can have the noisiest piece of music in the world and it can still be a song. And I think that's the difference, a lot of times.
M- Yeah, I hear you.
BG- Sometimes there are a lot of bands that sound very similar now... and they put an album out to be the most "extreme", but they kind of forget that it's also got to have something that's going to get you to reach for it for a second time on the CD... or looking for that part on the CD record. That's kind of lacking.
M- Exactly.
BG- That's what's with Napalm, I mean, of course it's got to be noisy and blah, blah, blah... but there should be something that's got some element too... On the side. I don't mean anything that panders to... whatever, just something that sticks.
M- I know, I agree totally. What do you think of the mix of, I'd say the death/ grindcore style of vocals with sung vocals of metal core or even screamo?
BG- You know what man, whatever people mean to do... i know people are very critical of this thing and that thing but I don't want to get caught up in that because I feel it's unnecessary. You know, it's not something that I really want to do but it's not for me to say. I do what I do and my influences come from a particular period of time that's actually quite a long time ago but, whatever floats your boat.
M- That's cool. Now a lot of the bands are tuning down and using baritone guitars...
BG- Whatever you need to do, man. If I hear it, what's going to be the test for me is whether I like it or not. If I don't like it, well, so be it. If what you are doing floats your boat, then go for it.
M-Cool. What about current material, plans for a new album, stuff like that?
BG- We're going to start seriously finalizing some songs for the next album when we get back in June after this last bout of touring. We'll be ready to record in August.
M- How long have you been on this tour?
BG- Well, since (sic) September 2006... Actually April 2006.
M- So it's been a while?
BG- Yeah, yeah.
M- Would say you you guys are more of a jam type band or do you work stuff out in advance?
BG- You know what? For as noisy and chaotic as our stuff is, we do plan a lot of our stuff. We don't have a grand master plan when we go to do an album, but when the songs do come together they are quite meticulously planned.  I like to go into the studio and burn, prety much 100% without any room for uncertainty.
M- Ok, cool. The last thing is... this is kind of a tired question but, what advice would you give to all these so many new bands starting out? What would you say is the best piece of advice to someone starting out?
BG- You know, Just do what you do really feel is going to make you happy creatively... because, you know forcing it and trying to be something you're not might not seem well. Doing it anyway people are always going to see through it. You know, in a wider sort on sense... bands get promised the earth, especially when you start and more often than not someone's trying to fuck you over. Just be mindful, be clever about it... what you're getting yourself into. And yeah, just go for it, see how it goes.
M- Cool, that's awesome. Well, we definitely look forward to seeing you guys tonight.
BG- Hopefully it will be good cause this is quite short notice.
M- I've been wanting to see you guys for a long, long time.
Christine- One major question that fans want to know is, what kind of equipment are you guys using?
BG- Ah shit, we're really random with stuff like that. I know a lot of bands set themselves up and they want their equipment a certain way but, we've got guitars since we started the band.
M- Beautiful answer!
BG- Yeah, Shane's got quite a nice bass, it's a Warrick bass. Danny will use Pearl drum stuff. That's about it. Shane doesn't use a bass amp, actually. He just goes direct in with a distortion pedal before the PA.
M- That's one thing that a lot of gear minded fans are really interested in and that is interesting to know, definitely. That is great. Thank you very much for taking the time to speak with us. We can't wait to see you play!

After seeing Napalm rip through their set Christine and I were blown away. I couldn't believe the clarity of the sound coming through the PA. Lastly, let me say that the ferocity of their performance was truly amazing to behold. Definitely a live act worth seeing next time around.