Napalm Death - Words from the Exit Wound

Now, I must admit, I haven't been much of a Napalm fan since Scum, stopping in only to catch a few tracks each on the last few albums. They have their following, and I grant them that they have excellent skills and chops, but, like Fear Factory, it's just not something I can ususally sit through til completion. So, this is the part in the review where I go "it was like a shotgun blast to the head at point blank range, I couldn't put it down, it was better than Cats, I'll never be the same again!" Er, not quite. Now, granted, this is the first N.D. platter that actually gets better as the album progresses, with the first couple being my least favorite (but still pretty killer). Exactly the opposite of the usual pattern! Of course, the Napalmisms are all here, with the Deathsters having one of the more noticable guitar tones in the biz. The crunch is killer, fueled by a see-though Colin Richardson production job, which if anything, is maybe a tad too sterile. Barney's in good form again, after the in-and-out shuffle that happened a while back. In fact, the whole band sounds a little reinvigorated, offsetting any huge changes in song structure the boys could have done. Of course, there are a few things that Napalm do that I'm not too crazy about, for one being the powerful, yet blocky, drumming of Danny Herrera. Similar to Andy Whale (ex-Bolt Thrower), he's good at what he does, but it all sounds a tad forced, no smoothitude. They also have this tendency to break into a blast section when it's completely appropriate. Sounds good, but it's expected, and a tad drole at times. In a nutshell, if you're a Napalm fan, this one's at or above par with the past few achievments. Never heard o' these guys? Well, then this is the perfect place to get thrown into the fray.