The tenacious grindcore machine that is Napalm Death just keeps on ticking. Earlier today the band announced the release date of their sixteenth studio album, cheekily titled Apex Predator – Easy Meat. The album is set to drop on January 26th in Europe and January 27th in North America via Century Media Records. No songs or videos have been released as of yet. Check out more details after the jump!
In keeping with grindcore tradition, the album’s concept tackles world issues, turning a microscope on the problem of slave labor in modern times. Singer Barney Greenway elaborates:
“Sometimes you have to ponder long and hard for an album title, but following the Rana Plaza disaster of last year (collapse of a textile sweatshop building in Bangladesh), it spurred me on to try and craft an expose slave labour in the modern world (and the surrounding conditions propping it up).
Some in power like to declare that slavery is consigned to the history books. But if you look beneath the surface it is alive and well in many different forms – it just has a different face now, and exists in ways that may seem ethically ambiguous. Using the terminology of evolution particularly interests us, so in this case the ‘Apex Predator’ represents those who bring the slavery to bear (and capitalise from it), and the ‘Easy Meat’ is of therefore those who feel they have no option but to comply.
Fittingly, the music on ‘Apex Predator – Easy Meat’ is punishing. We feel it’s more ambient, more expansive, more unsettlingly discordant than ever, and importantly, still extremely rampant at excessive speed. We hope in every respect – both musically and lyrically – this album will make your eyes burn with the harsh sonics and harsh visions of the dumping ground of globalisation.”
Song titles include ‘Copulating Snakes,’ ‘Dear Slum Landlord,’ ‘What is Past is Prologue’ and ‘Stunt Your Growth’, giving a clear indication of the album’s lyrical intent. Stay tuned for more details as they come.
-DW