The UK has many institutions: cricket; warm beer; roast beef and Yorkshire pudding; and in the extreme music circles the mighty Napalm Death. Ridiculed by many and all to often berated in the music press, there can be few bands more synonymous with extreme music.  Despite all the knocks these Brummie gods of grind have continued on regardless - forging their own brand of mayhem. [who can believe that nearly twenty years have passed since the landmark and genre-defining release "Scum"?]

The move from long time record label Earache signaled the creative resurgence that has seen "Leaders Not Followers: Part 2" and "The Code Is Red...Long Live The Code" not only reinvent the band from Grindcore stalwarts, but propel them right back into the spotlight of extreme music. Any thoughts that a hasty successor to "Code" would mean a rushed and compromised affair are quickly dismissed as "Sink Fast, Let Go", "Fatalist" and "Puritanical Punishment Beating" are unleashed and heaven help those not prepared for the sonic bombardment!

Long time producer Russ Russell returns, ensuring "Smear" has the wall of sound qualities we have come to expect from any Napalm release. Along with more blast beats than you can wave a stick at, an edginess and directness has returned that goes some way to erasing the memory of "Diatribes" and alike. With the bands experimental days behind them, the blend of Grind and Death Metal is a musical extremist's wet dream - ensuring the bands' momentum is carried forward in a positive direction.

Napalm Death have never been a band to shy away from a challenge, they all too often revel in proving doubters wrong. However an altogether new challenge awaits ahead... With success comes expectations. The bar is now firmly set, for a standard that must be maintained, if not surpassed. This is however a worry for another day as "Smear Campaign" is sure to excite those already familiar with Messer's Greenway, Harris, Embury and Herrera's work; and who knows it may even bring some new flock to the fold.