1477 - Napalm Death Instinct Of Survival 1987

"Scum" is the first album by the English grindcore band Napalm Death, released in 1987 through Earache Records. Side A of the "Scum" album was originally recorded for £50.00 at Rich Bitch studio (Birmingham, England) in August 1986: it was intended to form part of a split release with the English crossover thrash band Atavistic on Manic Ears (Bristol, England). After an extensive line-up change, the second half of "Scum" was recorded in May 1987 at Rich Bitch studio. The album was released as a single album through Earache in July 1987. Notably, only drummer Mick Harris played on both sides of the album. Side one of the album is the fruit of a demo tape recorded with the band’s 1986 lineup of Justin Broadrick (guitars, vocals), Nik Bullen (bass), and Mick Harris (drums). That lineup fell apart, and Harris recruited guitarist Bill Steer (from fellow UK scene folks the Electro Hippies) and punk show promoter Lee Dorrian as vocalist. The two dominant aspects of the band are the vocals (whether delivered by Broadrick or Dorrian), which are uniformly unintelligible growls that would soon become iconic throughout extreme music in general, and the doomy, minor key riffs sandblasted by the hyperactive tempos. The sound is muddy and raw, as any demo tape quality recordings forcibly transferred to digital will tend to be, but that primitive quality doesn’t distract at all. And by the way, the lyrics, which are right out of the Crass/Conflict school of anarchist punk, were highly influential as well, forcing many within the generally apolitical metal scene to reflect on their lifestyle choices and social values. The fury that rages through tracks like "Instinct of Survival" is chilling, a stiff middle finger at corruption and injustice.