Friday, October 17, 2008

SCUM

Napalm Death's debut, Scum, is by no means rare, and I'm sure a million other blogs have already shared it, but this album is a personal favorite and you can't deny its importance. I just wanted it to be part of the Cosmic Hearse pantheon. This came out in 1987, but I didn't discover it until around 1990. Scum was like a nail bomb to my young mind. I'd never heard anything so fast and so ugly, but what I also noticed was the lyrics, which seem to come directly from the Discharge school of anarcho-haiku. Pure poetry recited over 250 BPMs. Scum still freaks me out almost two decades later, and multi-national corporations are still fucking dicks.


15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Scum is such a fucking good album.

TMM said...

I really wish this was the first Napalm Death album I had heard instead of fucking Utopia Banished. That kind of delayed my interest until I heard Enslavement......
I also wish I could have experienced that same bewilderment at what I was hearing.I just heard it about 7 years too late..Shucks............Troy

Roger Camden said...

I had the misfortune to hear this after listening to From Enslavement To Obliteration continuously for about a month and a half while in high school.
I found the first half (the Broadrick tracks in particular) lacking and the second half merely okay. It was clear that the second half was the same (or similar) line-up as FE2E, what with Lee Dorian and all.
It's more interesting to me now because there are like three different versions of the same band on one record. And each band sounds entirely different. An entire wave (or two) of musicians washes over the record by the time it finishes. The growth seems rapid, nearly instant, as if they were following the trajectory of their own songs- the finish line.

Thinking back, I was probably just bummed because I could understand what their first singer was saying.
I used to listen to FE2E with the lyric book open on my lap, laughing. Just laughing.
To me, there was no possible way in hell that the three and four syllable words that made up the lyrics to songs like "Cock Rock Alienation" and "Lucid Fairytale" were actually what Dorrian was growling through my speakers.
Somehow, "attained through coercive froms of authority" becomes "BLLLLARRRRRGH ARRRRRGH" through Dorrian's vocal magic.
I love that. Suspending that disbelief was my foot in the door to extreme metal.

SvartStøy said...

you gotta love the artwork to, jeff carcass is amazing.

Anonymous said...

lovely!

Nickthrone said...

this ones a classic FROM ENSLAVEMENT is their best

Anonymous said...

There isn't a single Napalm Death album I don't enjoy at least a little, and a good portion of them are just out and out fucking wicked. One of the greatest bands ever. As groundbreaking and influential as this album this I still go with FETO as my favorite. What a fucking skullraping monster of an album, absolutely murderous on the eardrums.

Anonymous said...

Gah, zshare is still down!

Aesop said...

Yes, if it's still down by midnight I'll use another service for the next post. If it continues beyond that I guess I'll start the arduous task of changing the links.

Anonymous said...

Cool,gracias: sorry if I sounded demanding.

Anonymous said...

and all my backwater son wanted was sum scum ..... damn you. now i gotta listen 2 holla' back music.

nano247 said...

i love this album, so what if we can get it on a billion other blogs, i like that you poseted here as a testiment to the wide range of music on this site

Cheers

Ambassador MAGMA said...

Favorite lyrics EVER:


You suffer...
BUT WHY?






Since the downloader isn't working, just go buy it. It was just remastered and there's a DVD that is not that great but fun to watch every once in a blue moon.
I wish (maybe it exists?) they would reissue it on vinyl, because the artwork on a CD is too tiny.

Without Napalm Death, music wouldn't be the same today. Muchos Hails!

Anonymous said...

Judging from the comments of more seasoned listeners, I am in for something special hearing this for the first time. Also, I agree wholeheartedly about multinational corporations. I only take umbrage at calling them "dicks". I cannot look upon that as a slur. I rather like my dick. It has stayed with me for many years and when needed, unlike so many in life, my dick has never hesitated to stand up for me. Yes, my dick is everything a multinational corporation is not. Dependable, comforting, willing to explore and take risks. So what if it has cost me money here and there. Were it not for my dick, I may never have known that I was allergic to penicillin. That has to count for something. Yes, my dick and I are thick as thieves. I even brought my dick along on every date and every wedding night I ever had. Talk about a constant pal. So let's stop maligning our faithful and loyal man-roots. And call multinational corporations just what they really are. Pussies! Thus endeth my Sunday Sermon...

Tim said...

these drums are ruling my world.