May 2, 1994 - Fear, Emptiness, Despair

Two years since their last album "Utopia Banished", Napalm Death released their fifth album "Fear, Emptiness, Despair" on May 2, 1994. This would be Napalm Death's most experimental album so far and while there is of course still some grindcore elements, there are a lot of slower-paced (by their standards) songs and different, atypical styles for Napalm Death as these guys try to branch out a bit. I loved their return to grindcore last album so I'm not sure how I feel about experimentation, but let's listen before we judge!

The album begins with "Twist The Knife (Slowly)" and immediately we're hit with a much different sound than we're used to. It reminds of the difference between Slayer's sixth album "Divine Intervention" and their following studio album "Diabolus In Musica": just like Slayer, Napalm Death have decided to slow things down a bit and (in my opinion) overproduce the music. Shane Embury's bass is super low, but it's also very monotone and it's hard to hear his different notes. Jesse Pintado and Mitch Harris still play some decent guitars, but their sound is far from the raw and eviscerating style we're used to and now everything sounds like it's been confined to thinking INSIDE this rather narrow box. Barney Greenway sounds decent yelling overtop on this song but, at least on this first song, Napalm Death seem content with keeping things average (which I completely disagree with!) Up next is the only single on the album "Hung" and it's driven by a decently heavy stop-and-start guitar riff, but while the guitars are stopped Embury's bass once again sounds very monotone and Danny Herrera plays a decent drum beat, but the tame pace mist make him feel like he's in slo-mo compared to normal! Greenway has somehow also fallen into the overproduction as his voice seems more monotone and less heavy, he's somehow reverted from the improvements he made last album! They speed things up to (close  but still not quite) Napalm Death speeds, but all the guitars and bass just blend together and I really hate the production on this album. After this part they slow things right down for a solid little breakdown, then return to the main riff to jam things out. Track 3 is "Remain Nameless" and it's got a pretty cool main guitar riff leading the way, but it's like somebody said "now what if we took that cool riff, and made it sound flat and uninspiring!" as the production seeks like it's going to irk me on every song. I miss the unrelenting grindcore of their early albums but Greenway gives us a small taste of olden times with a couple high screams theat he holds decently! There's some cool guitar on this song for sure, but the production makes it sound so average and toned down. The next track is "Plague Rages" and one guitarist plays a heavy but very repetitive riff while the rest of the band falls in behind and there's some nice faster drumming by Herrera, but Embury's monotone bass droning in the background takes away from things. Greenway has a couple nice screams that stand out, but most of it is pretty monotone which sadly fits the music well. They do tear things up at a furious pace for a bit, and that part is unsurprisingly pretty sweet! Some experimenting is okay, but I'm not a fan of this total album experiment. Track 5 is "More Than Meets The Eye" and it's got a very typical, template-fitting main riff, but in this case that's not a great thing! I'm probably being too harsh; it's a solid metal verse with some cool guitars leading the way, but it's just undeniably not as engaging as their other albums. After a  couple rounds they shift to a new riff with one guitarist playing a pretty sweet high riff to lead the way overtop the super low background and things sound cool indeed! They finish it as it began, but that was a cool middle section, nice to change things up a bit! Up next is "Primed Time" and it's got a pretty sweet lead guitar riff that is of course pretty damn fast Hut it's also all over the place, hitting tons of super low and super high notes! Greenway sounds solid yelling overtop in his low voice and this is one of the more exciting, template-fitting songs as I headbang the whole way through! Track 7 is "State Of Mind" and it's driven by a still heavy, but much slower main riff with less exciting guitars that don't do enough to district from Embury's monotone bass in the background. This song is a pretty good embodiment of this whole album: it was a decent metal tune for sure, but nothing that stood out too much and the tones and production is just too average and muted. The next track is "Armageddon X 7" and one guitarist and Embury play a slow rhythm section, while Herrera plays some fast and pretty cool drums. The other guitarist comes in with some super fast lead guitar and they combine these slow and fast styles pretty nicely. Greenway's verse sounds a little too monotone and unexciting, especially since the music is pretty cool behind him. The fast guitars are especially sweet and I'm not sure which guitarist is doing the faster stuff, but he never lets up the whole song! Aside from some lackluster vocals, it was a pretty sweet tune! Track 9 is "Retching On The Dirt" and it's got a bit of a groove to this main riff that gets your body bouncing, but still in a distorted and heavy fashion of course! Things are a little repetitive for the first couple minutes, but the last minute they turn it up to grindcore speeds and unsurprisingly this is the better part of the song! Furious drums, insanely fast guitar and Greenway sounds better overtop this style as well! Up next is "Fasting On Deception" and it's got a pretty slow and simple opening before they settle into a typical main riff for this album: a more standard pace metal riff and Greenway matching the music with some monotone and toned down stuff. Herrera'a drums still sound pretty solid, but everything else is fairly repetitive and not bad, just decent, nothing special. The final song on the album is "Throwaway" and they dive right into a much faster, more typically grindcore riff and of course I think this sounds way more engaging as everyone is harmoniously and furiously going nuts! The chorus has a slightly offbeat but still plenty fast riff that is pretty cool as well and while they stick to the main drag (no guitar solos on this whole album I think, which is disappointing) it's a pretty cool main drag and one of the better songs on the album.

That is the end of "Fear, Emptiness, Despair" and I thought it was an okay album, but definitely not a great one by any means. Napalm Death still bring their grindcore style to the table sometimes, but even then the production is all off on this album and everything just sounds flat for the most part. The fact that I don't think it surpasses "Harmony Corruption" is saying something as this takes the new bottom rung. Can Napalm Death rebound?