October 26, 1998 - Words From The Exit Wound

Almost a year and a half since "Inside The Torn Apart", Napalm Death released their eighth album "Words From The Exit Wound" on October 26, 1998. This is the last album in Napalm Death's experimental phase and I can't say I'll be sad to see it go! Let's see how they finish it off!

The album begins with "The Infiltraitor" and while it's definitely not grindcore speeds, the production and overall sound does sound noticeably better than the last few albums with the first hard-hitting main riff sounding pretty heavy and solid. Both Jesse Pintado and Mitch Harris are playing some decently fast and cool guitars and Barney Greenway sounds pretty heavy and solid overtop on his typical lower voice. After a couple rounds of this they turn up the speed to grindcore levels and Danny Herrera is playing some pretty fast and crazy drums; everyone is playing furious and sounding great! This was a pretty sweet way to kick off the album! Up next is "Repression Out Of Uniform" and they jump right into a slightly groovy and interesting main riff with Shane Embury playing some solid bass behind the lead guitars. Greenway sounds better than normal on this one throughout, but especially in the chorus where he holds a couple nice longer, high screams. The music is very template-fitting for their experimental style, but once again the improved production makes things sound much better overall. Another solid tune! Track 3 is "Next Of Kin To Chaos" and one guitarist leads the way with a fast and cool lead riff while the rest of the band forms a slower rhythm section behind it. Greenway sings a slow verse to match the mood and this song is more reminiscent of their lesser songs from recent albums as it's pretty repetitive and not their most exciting. It's still decent, don't get me wrong, but there are moments when my head is only slightly bobbing, and it should be banging! The next song is "Trio-Degradable / Affixed By Disconcern" and the former half is a short bit that is pretty psychedelic! Greenway talks overtop the static and other strange noises then at the 1:20 mark they snap into the latter half with a more typical song. It's led by some pretty cool guitars and Greenway sounds much better screaming than talking. The rest of this song was solid, bit of an atypical and not necessary opening though. Track 5 is "Cleanse Impure" and Pintado and Harris play off each other nicely in this main riff as one plays a super low riff, the other plays a super high riff and they alternate pretty smoothly. After a couple rounds they move into grindcore speeds for a new riff and of course this part is chaotic and insane! From here they move smoothly into a groovy new riff that is pretty cool and Greenway hits some decent higher notes overtop. I liked the variety on this one and each part was good in it's own way! Up next is "Devouring Depraved" and it's driven by a slower, pretty distorted main riff that sounds solid (for this newer style) and once it really gets going it's got a solid bounce to it!  Track 7 is "Ulterior Exterior" and Embury starts us off with a pretty fast bass riff that everyone else forms nicely around for this hard-hitting main riff. Things get even faster in a grindcore chorus that has some sweet, super speedy guitars! At Under two minutes, this is easily their most throwback song on the album, and obviously that makes it arguably the best one! The next track is "None The Wiser?" and it's got an okay main riff that is still decently heavy, but this is a perfect example of the toned down style that's been prevalent for a few years now. Greenway tries to sing a bit in the chorus, but he just doesn't have a good singing voice and things fall pretty flat. This song is over four minutes and there's just not enough cool stuff going on, it's one of the lesser ones on the album. Track 9 is "Clutching At Barbs" and it's got an upbeat and decently catchy main riff for these guys (albeit still in the poor-sounding production). This song is solid for sure, but all I can think about is how much better it COULD have sounded if it were unleashed! Up next is "Incendiary Incoming" and it just might have the coolest main riff on the album with a great lead guitar riff that goes back-and-forth from super low to super high and some sweet drums Herrera as well! After each round Greenway unleashes a super high and long-held scream and this is another contender for best song on the album; and it's really nice that there are a few contenders! Track 11 is "Thrown Down A Rope" and it's much more standard and template-fitting with a more toned down lead guitar riff. The chorus guitars are much better as Pintado and Harris sync up for some nice harmonized stuff. After a couple rounds there's a new chugging riff that is pretty groovy and cool, then they hit reset and do it all again. A little repetitive but still a decent tune. The final song on the album is "Sceptic In Perspective" and it fits the template pretty perfectly. Of course it's another unique metal riff, but most of these new-era riffs just don't jump out and grab you! There's of course some cool guitars and my head was definitely banging at times, but it ultimately wasn't very memorable, which I think can be said for a lot of these songs.

That is the end of "Words From The Exit Wound" and I thought it was a decent album, but this experimental era continues to prove to be way less exciting than their grindcore era. That being said, I think this album easily surpasses their last album and their fifth one, and even passes "Diatribes" for the best album of this experimental era, but the fact that I still don't think it breaks "Harmony Corruption" shows how far they still have to climb back. Where will they go from here though!?