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 MARK “BARNEY” GREENWAY explains to TOM HERSEY how grind icons NAPALM DEATH have continued to grow without losing sight of the band’s legendary roots.
“Napalm was my favourite band before I got the chance to join it. Scum is an important milestone in music. I feel extremely happy and proud to be part of a band that has Scum in its catalogue. I think it’s a great thing to be able to play things like Scum and Deceiver and You Suffer and Life?. Those songs mean everything to me.”
Espousing polite understatements in a thick Birmingham accent, Napalm Death frontman Barney Greenway is reflecting on the legacy of Napalm Death. He’s right on the money in his reverential depiction of the band’s early material too. Even after Scum dropped in 1987 and fundamentally changed the course of extreme music, Napalm Death, the godfathers of grindcore as they are accurately referred to, have continued to pioneer the perfection of extreme sounds, even through phases of musical deviation from the grindcore sound.
Their latest sonic venture has been the exploration of electronically manipulated noise, an activity that defined their latest album, Time Waits For No Slave, as one of the most celebrated in the band’s entire career. However, when asked whether these newer tracks have a place alongside classic Napalm blasterpieces, Barney is sceptical.
“We are even more manic on stage than we are on record. So we did try to slot in some of the slower, more noisy tracks into the show, but we found that it really interrupted the flow of the set. When we played those songs live people would just kind of stand there. Whilst they seemed to appreciate the songs, it just kind of stuffed the mood of the show.”
During our conversation, there are recurring mentions of the energy and intensity requisite in putting on a Napalm Death show. Barney speaks of the responsibility he feels towards fans, and towards the band as an entity, to bring all the passion and aggression he can to every single show. And the lengths he’s prepared to go to to ensure that his performance always has “one hundred per cent energy”.
“I do everything I can to make sure that I can keep up the level of energy and intensity of the Napalm show. Whilst I’m on tour I abstain from alcohol. I find that alcohol dries me out when we’re on tour. Because as far as I’m concerned I’m not going to do anything that is going to stop me from giving the kids who have taken the time and effort to come and see us live, I’m not going to give them any less than one hundred per cent.”
But has it gotten tougher playing such an extreme form of music when you’re aging past the wrong side of 40?
“I’ve never been a believer in age affecting what you do musically. I don’t care if you’re a band that’s been around for 30 years or that’s just arrived. At 41 years old, I’m not scared to admit my age, the drive is there to give people one hundred per cent effort playing with Napalm.”
NAPALM DEATH play The Hi-Fi with Dying Fetus and Disentomb on Friday Sep 3. TIME WAITS FOR NO SLAVE is out now through Century Media/EMI. www.napalmdeath.org
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