Napalm Death – Utilitarian

It's tempting to downplay Napalm Death's significance in the world of extreme metal: we're almost at a point where we're dismissing the granddaddies of grindcore's latest exploits as heedless cliché before the material even lands. It's satisfying, then, to be able to firmly claim that the group's fifteenth album overall stands as proof they're still full of tricks and show no signs of getting soft in their old age.

The music is as urgent and fast-paced as it's ever been, but the real treats here lay within subtle formula-tweaks; vocalist Barney Greenway refreshingly mixes up his requisite death-growls with some well-placed melodic performances (Circumspect, The Wolf I Feed), and the inclusion of a demented choir on Fall on Their Swords is truly jarring. There's even some gloriously gleeful sax-abuse on Everyday Pox. For a record which seemingly operates under such rigid genre conventions, Utilitarian is startlingly diverse.