Customer Reviews

Order Of The Leech

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

You know whenever I see a band as old as Napalm Death still out there making killer extreme music, and basically giving all these "nu/new" bands a good lesson in pure violence, it just brings a big smile to my face. The best thing about Napalm Death is that they are like a good bottle of whine - They get better with age. "Order Of The Leech" being the newest Napalm Death album to blow out your speakers does not tend to fail. The one thing that I found truly splendid about this album is that there is not 1 filler track or boring song on it. Every song rages, grinds, thrashes and obliterates everything in it's infernal path. Basically this is a great continuation of their last (also which was a great comeback to the Metal scene) album "Enemy Of The Music Business", only "Order Of The Leech" is 10x more faster, more grinding, more extreme, and definately more hateful. Barney Greenway's vocals are at top-notch. Jesse Pintado and Mitch Harris's guitars still have that grinding chainsaw riffing. Shane Embury's bass tones are truly splendid balancing distortion with grade-A sound production. Danny Herrera's drumming is even more devestating than on ND's last album. He get's better with every new ND album, and on this particular album...he even conjur's up the old Mitch Harris blast-beat era of "From Enslavement To Obliteration". Again the sound production is top-notch. Musically, it has the new sound of "Enemy of The Music Business", but it's also a back-track to their glory Hardcore/Thrash/Death Metal days of "Harmony Corruption" and "Utopia Banished". I noticed that there's the familiar drum beat from Terrorizer's "Ripped To Shreds" in the song "Blows To The Body" - You can never have enough of Terrorizer!!! And for all you Celtic Frost fans, there's some reference to them in the lyrics for the song "Continuing War On Stupidity". Hands-down, by far the fastest and most extreme Napalm Death album in such a long time. can't wait to see the Napalm boys on tour in Early 2003 with Nile, Dark Tranquility, Strapping Young Lad, and The Berzerker.

Top Song Picks:

- The Icing On The Hate (Killer intro verse)
- Forced To Fear (Has some spooky-sounding air raids in the background)
- Lowest Common Denominator (Hehe...the Napalm boys are takin' the piss out of the Nu-Metal trend!)
- Continuing War On Stupidity

Order of the Leech delivers the goods. Yes, Napalm is back and they are heavier than EVER!! If you thought Enemy of the Music Business, Words from the Exit Wound, or Diatribes was heavy than get ready for the most ear-shattering 35+ minutes of your life. Napalm Death once again bucks the trend of becoming softer with age, I honestly don't know where they can go from here in terms of sheer sonic brutality. Also, Order of the Leech has to be the fastest ND album to date, the time changes are mind-boggling and made at (literally) lightning speed. Barney Greenway's vocals embody the essence of evil and he truly shines on the standout tracks: The Icing on the Hate, Lowest Common Denominator, and Forewarned is Disarmed? Danny Herrera is nothing short of a machine on the drums. As a fellow drummer, I cannot even fathom playing at such high speeds with the precision he accomplishes. Order of the Leech will undoubtedly rank among Napalm Death's finest hours when all is said and done.

Its good to hear that the grindcore masters are still doing their thing. If you dont know, Napalm Death and Cannibal Corpse are the kings of the "cookie monster" bands. As much as i like Enemy of the Music Business, i think that this is my all time favorite. They are absolutley brutal on this ablum, and if you think, a few years back when they did the Diatribes recordings, people said they were about to "sell out and go soft". Well, if you stopped listening back then, come back into the fold, because they are back with a vengeance. Barney is a death metal legend in my opinion, and his voice brings terror into the hearts of many an Emo kid, and christian coalition memeber. So if you like brutal grindcore, go get this cd. these guys wont let you down.

After seeing the band 2 nights ago I popped 'Leech' back in the CD player. I was so utterly blown away by 'Enemy' that 'Leech' didnt burn my bottom on the first go round. After seeing the tracks live I took a fresh, serious listen. The first half of this album is brilliant, memorable riffs (some fantastic trademark ND mosh/groove parts), machine gun drumming, exceptional growling and high pitch screaming make this CD brutal (in a most excellent way). It really starts off like 'Enemy' in terms of the speed and power but what is offered on 'Leech' is a more varied chord voicing (somewhat more like the 'Inside the Torn Apart' / Embury type stuff). one might just think to lump the 2 albums together, I disagree, Napalm was certainly shooting for a different sound this record (using their own tried and true style). Barney's vocals perfectly accentuate the heavy parts and the higer end screams really get the adrenaline pumping. The album tends to peter out a bit towards the end (gets a bit monotonous), so I couldnt give it the full 5 stars this time out. Seeing the 'Leech' stuff live definitely gave me a new appreciation for this album. It reminds me of when Shane started infusing some of his ideas into the songs (around 95 when he did the 'Blood from the Soul' and 'Meathook Seed' projects) except in this case there is a much better balance of brutality vs. ethereality (wierd guitar noises etc). If you liked 'Enemy' you really also ought to pick this one up... and try your best to see them live - awesome.

Order of the Leech is the fastest and heaviest Napalm Death album I have ever heard. This is a major achievement, as all of their releases have been absolutely amazing. The intensity of Order of the Leech is simply astounding. Barney Greenway is in top form spewing his hate filled diatribes. Nowhere is this more apparent than the standout track, The Icing on the Hate, where Greenway completely takes over. Danny Herrera drumming is jaw droppingly precise and he shreds every track especially To Lower Yourself (Blind Servitude). Shane Embury's bass anchors the madness, he is the driving creative force behind Napalm Death and he shines on Forced to Fear and Forewarned is Disarmed? In comparison with other Napalm releases, I am already annoiting Order of the Leech their best release since the legendary Harmony Corruption. It is better than the late 90's stuff (Words from the Exit Wound, Inside the Torn Apart, and Diatribes) because of it's sheer intensity and power. Order of the Leech is also more consistent fare than the aforementioned albums. This is a must own cd for any fan of Napalm Death and when all is said and done this may be looked back at as their defining moment. Highest Recommendation.

"Order of the Leech" is another standard Napalm Death album, continuing in the vein of its predecessors "Words From the Exit Wound" and "Enemy of the Music Business." In other words, it's Napalm Death offering up another album of pure grinding fury. They're still angry, they're still firmly against all things mainstream, and they're as committed as ever to blinding speed and pummelling heaviness. Barney Greenway is, as always, among the best growlers in the business, with one of the most instantly recognizable deliveries around. His bandmates are still consumnate professionals, delivering their usual mix of roiling riffs and skull-busting rhythms. The most impressive thing about Napalm Death is that with extreme metal splintering into so many different directions and subgenres, they don't deviate from what they're best at. Bands like Opeth deserve credit for innovation and diversity, but Napalm Death also deserve credit for their unwavering commitment to extremity. "Order of the Leech" doesn't contain any surprises, but I'd be pretty upset if it did.

The evolution of Napalm Death fascinates me. I'm old enough to remember "Scum," which at the time I had a hard time accepting. It was just too much sonic mayhem for me then. Later, I came to understand grindcore. But I never thought Napalm Death would remain together and remain heavy for over 16 years! While they've drastically improved in technical proficiency and have had massive lineup changes, they've never gotten soft or complacent on us. Their incredible intensity makes them a very unique band.

Order of the Leech is probably their fastest and heaviest release since the early grindcore albums, but is way more technical than those. Plus they sustain the intensity for about three minutes per song instead in short bursts. This makes for a very intense and concentrated listening experience. The lyrics are also really brilliant and you can just make them out without constantly referring to the lyrics sheet, which is cool.

I give the album four stars only because the overall speed and brutality leaves little room for dynamics. Basically the accelerator pedal is on the floor from stop to start in each song. This is, of course, the whole idea so don't get me wrong - I love the album for what it is. I just slightly prefer "Harmony Corruption" because there is some dynamic variation among the brutality. Napalm Death show they are NOT past their prime. Stay chuffed!

There is little debate that Napalm Death's tenth full-length studio release, 2002's "Order of the Leech," is a very safe and familiar-sounding album. It doesn't break any new ground or expand on the band's sound whatsoever, and many believe it is just a continuation of 2000's "Enemy of the Music Business." But look at it this way: that isn't really a bad thing. "OotL" dispenses with any and all previous experimentation, and focuses just on perfecting ND are already unparalleled at - devastatingly brutal death metal/grindcore played at neck-snapping speed. The result is yet another link in a long, long chain of very good, entirely solid, insanely tight, phenomenally executed, and effortlessly likeable efforts from Barney Greenway and the boys (no one can say they're an inconsistent band after hearing this album!). It is also as good or better than anything they had released in recent memory (it easily tops anything they released in the 1990's). And besides, this is Napalm Death after all, so what did you expect - Barney crooning over a string symphony?

Longtime guitarist Mitch Harris leads the charge with scorching, wrist-spraining, often "World Downfall"-esque riffs and leads (which isn't really surprising since Terrorizer's axeman Jesse Pintado wrote the music for some songs), Barney's vocals have never sounded more manic, visceral, or furious. However, the record's main highlight and focal point is the drumming. The non-stop maelstroms of utterly flawless, immensely powerful, and almost machine-like hyper-speed blast beats heard here would be nothing short of astounding - that is, if it were just about anybody except Danny Herrera behind the trapkit. But this is just part for the course for what you would expect from him.

"Order of the Leech" pulls out all of the stops and rips from start to finish. These twelve songs work as a series of swift blows to the forehead, and combine to form one massive ball of uncontrollably frenetic, white-hot, steamrolling, tooth-shaking flash flood of anger, aggression, and primal urgency that is devoid of pesky little things like melody, harmony, frills, and superfluous fat. Granted, the disc is also more-or-less devoid of variety (since almost all of its forty-four minute running time is about the same speed), so none of the songs really stand out well or stick with you after hearing them. That said, there still many noteworthy tracks here, though. For example, "Continuing War on Stupidity" and "Per Capita" boast screwy, distorted, punching, heavily lumbering riffs, machine gun drums, and brutal, full-bodied bellows (the former is also of note for it's Celtic Frost-inspired anti-war/presidential lyrics). Elsewhere, "The Icing on the Hate," "Narcoleptic," and the closing "The Great Capitulator" are but three examples of pummeling, jackhammering blastfests which showcase Herrera's truly ridiculous and virtuosic talent ("To Lower Yourself" and "Farce and Fiction" do so as well, as they are filled with crashing, smashing, clattering blasts.) Also of note, a track like "Forewarned To Disarmed" features some especially great vocals, and proves Barney is equally-as-effective at bellowing, growling, screaming, and shrieking; and "Lowest Common Denominator" ends with a surprisingly calm and restrained (who said "moody?") interlude part. Lastly, "Forced To Fear," with its epic scope, insistently pounding drums, and very complex, technical, fiery, twisting, and even somewhat groovey riffing, is possibly the best song to be found here.

All told, this album isn't innovative or memorable enough to be an essential purchase, but it does make for enough extremely enjoyable, entertaining, and exhilarating listening sessions to be worth buying if you're a hardcore fan.

This album is amazing! I lost interest in Napalm Death after Lee Dorian left. The band went terribly astray in the 90's. I recently happened upon their release prior to this, "Enemy of the Music Business." Though not thoroughly impressed, it intrigued me enough to check this one out as well--mostly because of the return of the hyperspeed grindcore drumming.

"Order of the Leech" has some awesome guitar hooks. Unlike "Enemy..", the guitar actually has bite. I immediately picked up on the Terrorizer similarity and was later surprised to see Jesse Pintado in the line-up. I never made this connection when listening to previous albums (apparently he's been with the band for 15 years now). His early British hardcore-esque riffs dominant on Terrorizer's "World Domination" album are once again present in this masterpiece. If Terrorizer were to release a second album, I would expect it to sound just like this.

Also of notable mention are the vocals--while not Dorian, they sound absolutely brutal, angry and with much conviction--and the drums CRUSH. The whirlwind grindcore holocaust is back!

In 2000, Napalm Death came back hard with "Enemy of the Music Business" -- a definitive answer to anyone who might have thought they were getting soft on us. Now, with "Order of the Leech", they've unleashed even more raging, furious grind upon us... and I couldn't be happier. I honestly thought it couldn't get much better than "Enemy...", but this new disc is faster and sicker from start to finish. Truly, there is not one second of "filler" material on this album. Every song is more than worth the listen. Barney is in top-notch throaty, gutteral form; the riffs are killer, and of course there are blast-beats and double-bass galore... even more than on "Enemy...". If you're a fan of ND, you will not be disappointed with this disc. If you're new to the band, this is a great place to start.