Whenever a band does something different than what their fans are used to, it’s usually met with resistance. Sometimes that might end up being one of their greatest pieces of work. Napalm Death's- Fear, Emptiness, Despair is a great example of a band stepping outside their comfort zone and producing something incredible. Often cited as the band “selling out” because of the commercial success they saw with this album, this record is a grooving ass-kicker.
A major turning point for the band, fear, emptiness, and despair saw the band experimenting with a lot more groove and mid-tempo song writing. The elements that make Napalm Death who they are, are still there but there’s a lot more breathing room and diversity in the songs. “Primed Time” is the perfect blend of in-your-face grindcore with some groovy hardcore flare thrown in there. The band does a great job of having the grindcore elements flow into the more groovy hardcore elements, creating a nice tension build-up.
Despite the fan backlash, Napalm Death would continue this style throughout the 90s. Even when they reverted to a more straightforward grindcore style, experimentation reminiscent of this era can still be found on songs like “Apex Predator” and “amoral”. The band kept the attitude of doing what they wanted and not giving a fuck and to me, that’s true grind core.
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