Napalm Death released the lead single from their first album in five years Friday, titled “Backlash Just Because.” It comes from Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism, which will be released on Sept. 18 through Century Media Records.
The roughly three-minute grindcore track contains elements of death metal. On Sirius XM’s Liquid Metal with Jose Mangin, vocalist Mark “Barney” Greenway said, “This song in particular really spurred me on when I was writing lyrics for the album overall. It’s raucous and traditional, but also quirky and discordant and ultimately catchy as anything in the context of rampaging noise. Lyrically, it was directed at the spiteful art of creating easy targets and fomenting paranoia and revulsion, which is something that I feel has become de rigueur in very recent times. I really let loose on the more sporadic vocals at the end of the song — it’s a real barkfest at that point. Lovely.”
The song and its corresponding lyric video are below. The video features the album artwork, designed by Frode Sylthe.
In a statement, Greenway said he chose the image of a dove choked and bloody because he wanted to symbolize equality and peace in the face of violence. The dove, a symbol of peace, is mauled, but an equality symbol shows that even in the worst of times, light triumphs over evil.
Greenway said when working on the album, he thought of “the other” and the need to stand in solidarity with others. He said, “You could recognize at the time that there was a rapidly growing fear and paranoia being generated about everybody, from migrating people to people with fluid sexuality and this was starting to manifest itself in very antagonistic reactions that you felt were almost verging on violence. Not everybody resorts to such reactions, of course, but even the basic lack of understanding can become toxic over time.”
The September release, their sixteenth album, will be the group’s first since 2015’s Apex Predator – Easy Meat. Russ Russell recorded the album with the group. The 12-song album will be available as a limited media CD with three bonus tracks and as a vinyl with a bonus track and a double-sided A2 poster.
Napalm Death was scheduled to tour with Aborted, Tombs and the Locusts in the spring. They announced an EP, Ravaged by Brute Force, in January.
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