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Start Date: April 8, 2019
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31 tracks on a double LP of rarities and extra's comers with a fold out poster...
read on...
What intro would do Napalm Death real justice? Few bands have the longevity, prolific output and legacy of these Brummie grinders. Having laid waste to all before them over a 30+ year career, the band continue to surprise and set the bar for extreme music globally as their most recent LP, the excellent and ever relevant Apex Predator- Easy Meat, showed.

There’s a lot to get your teeth into on this double album and most of the unreleased stuff would easily make it onto most bands A-lists. for many a fan I am sure, what has made Napalm Death so enduring is their ability to balance all out grinding speed and aggression with some of catchiest and funkiest riffs ever penned. All this while wearing their collective social hearts on their sleeves and tackling some of society’s real ills head on in an eloquent and at times sarcastic manner. This approach really drives home their message.

On the strength of the first couple of listens, Coded Smears… carries on the mantle from recent releases. There’s enough quality on here to make most band’s A-lists. Tracks like “It Failed To Explode”, “Losers”, and “Paracide” have all the aforementioned hallmarks we have come to cherish. “Call that an Option?”, a bonus track from 2006’s Smear Campaign is an absolute lesson in mid-tempo grind and groove and left me scratching my head as to why it didn’t made the main cut. These classic Napalm touches resonate throughout the record and will go down as easy meat, leaving all but the most fickle sated, until the guys release a new full length studio effort.

However, it’s where the band varies the sonic menu that things get even more interesting. “Phonetics for the Stupefied” is a great example with its thrashy intro and is a real fist pumper. Another is “Clouds Of Cancer/ Victims Of Ignorance”, a bonus track from Apex Predator, which lulls the listener with a classical piano intro before pummelling with a scum-esque volley – Napalm Death at their juxta-positive best! A couple of covers are also given a welcome outing, in particular the Cardiacs “To Go off and Things” stands out as a glorious bass driven stomp and is the second time the band have released it, the first in 2013 where all revenues generated were donated to Cardiac’s lead singer Tim Smith who sadly suffered a catastrophic brain injury in 2008. A lovely human touch against the ferocity and anger of the music.

In addition to a savage touring schedule over recent years, Coded Smears… serves as a useful reminder, if anyone needed, that Napalm Death are still here and as brutal and relevant as ever. 

album review the Moshville Times..

1. Standardization (02:46) -> LP-only bonus track from “Utilitarian” album sessions 2011.
2. Oh So Pseudo (02:36) -> Bonus track from “Apex Predator – Easy Meat” album sessions 2014.
3. It Failed To Explode (03:38) -> Japan-only bonus track from “Utilitarian” album sessions 2011.
4. Losers (04:22) -> Bonus track from “The Code Is Red...Long Live The Code” album sessions 2004.
5. Call That An Option? (03:03) -> Bonus track from “Smear Campaign” album sessions 2006.
6. Caste As Waste (03:06) -> Japan-only bonus track from “Apex Predator – Easy Meat” album sessions 2014.
7. We Hunt In Packs (03:49) -> Japan-only bonus track from “Time Waits For No Slave” album sessions 2008.
8. Oxygen Of Duplicity (03:30) -> From Melvins Split EP, recorded 2013.
9. Paracide (01:39) -> Gepopel cover / Japan-only bonus track from “Apex Predator – Easy Meat” album sessions 2014.
10. Critical Gluttonous Mass (02:26) -> Bonus track from “Apex Predator – Easy Meat” album sessions 2014.
11. Aim Without An Aim (03:05) -> Bonus track from “Utilitarian” album sessions 2011.
12. An Extract (Strip It Clean) (03:12) -> From Split EP with Heaven Shall Burn, recorded 2014.
13. Phonetics For The Stupefied (03:29) -> From Split EP with Voivod, recorded 2014.
14. Suppressed Hunger (03:09) -> Bonus track from “Time Waits For No Slave” album sessions 2008.
15. To Go Off And Things (02:29) -> Cardiacs cover / From Split EP with Melvins, recorded 2013.
16. Clouds of Cancer / Victims Of Ignorance (02:06) -> G-ANX cover / Bonus track from “Apex Predator – Easy Meat” album sessions 2014.
17. What Is Past Is Prologue (02:57) -> Bonus track from “Apex Predator – Easy Meat” album sessions 2014.
18. Like Piss To A Sting (01:31) -> From Split EP with Melt Banana, recorded 2014.
19. Where The Barren Is Fertile (02:22) -> From Split EP with Melt Banana, recorded 2014.
20. Crash The Pose (01:33) -> Gauze cover / Japan-only bonus track from “The Code Is Red...Long Live The Code” album sessions 2004.
21. Earthwire (02:55) -> Download only as DZI Foundation benefit following the 2015 Nepal earthquake, recorded 2014.
22. Will By Mouth (01:25) -> From Split EP with Converge, recorded 2012.
23. Everything In Mono (02:48) -> Bonus track from “Utilitarian” album sessions 2011.
24. Omnipresent Knife In Your Back (05:15) -> Bonus track from “Time Waits For No Slave” album sessions 2008.
25. Lifeline (03:18) -> Sacrilege cover / From “Respect Your Roots Worldwide” compilation, recorded 2011.
26. Youth Offender (02:07) -> B-Side from “Analysis Paralysis” EP; recorded 2011.
27. No Impediment To Triumph (Bhopal) (03:02) -> From Split EP with Converge, recorded 2012.
28. Legacy Was Yesterday (02:15) -> From Decibel Magazine Flexi EP, recorded 2010.
29. Outconditioned (02:25) -> Despair cover / From “Covering 20 Years Of Extremes” compilation, recorded 2008.
30. Atheist Runt (06:07) -> Bonus track from “Smear Campaign” album sessions 2006.
31. Weltschmerz (Extended Apocalyptic Version) (04:05) -> Bonus track from “Smear Campaign” album sessions 2006.