Like most Napalm Death albums, this can become a real chore to listen to if you're not paying attention. 'Siege Of Power' even has an excellent solo! Songs like 'Scum', and especially the longest track, 'Siege Of Power', churn though structured riffs and beating rhythms and sound phenomonal all the while. While songs like 'The Kill' and 'Life?' are around thirty seconds and hastily tear through a musical idea, this is not all the record has to offer (even though it would still make the album worthwhile). The production is muddy (this was 1987 and released on Earache, a relatively small label), but it gives a very raw sound and demands more volume.įrom the second Scum begins, you know it's going to be a ride 'Multinational Corporations' comes in with cymbal hits and some noise, and then 'Instinct Of Survival' begins the journey that tears through any standards that the metal world had at the time. The bass is heavily distorted and the guitar moves over chords at breakneck speed, carrying obvious hardcore punk and metal influences. The drumming is usually either a very fast, near punkish 'doop-chick', or it is signature grind drumming: extremely fast, pounding double bass and snare offbeats. Scum has twenty-eight tracks and is around thirty-six minutes long, with few songs breaching the two minute barrier. Napalm Death made a name for themselves off their own style of music, and the surprising success of the song 'You Suffer' (which is probably due to the song being around a second in length).

While there were bands playing the same sort of music, it was Napalm Death who gave it direction and shaped it into what it is today. Mick Harris, the drummer, was the first to coin the term, and the band was the first to apply a sound to the genre. Napalm Death's debut album, Scum, was recorded throughout 1986 and released in 1987, and defines grindcore music to this day.

Scum map labeled