Review: Napalm Death -Leaders Not Followers: Part 2

Napalm Death
Leaders Not Followers: Part 2

Century Media

Leaders Not Followers: Part 2 is Napalm Death’s follow-up, believe it or not, to their 2000 release Leaders Not Followers. The originator of the series was a five song ep, six songs if you include the cleverly “hidden” Dead Kennedys song “Nazi Punks…”. Hidden tracks are cool, but what I love are the maddening pricks that put a 2 or 3 second blurb at the end of 13 minutes of silence. You end up holding down the fast forward button, wondering to yourself, “When it will end?” Your anticipation ripens just as you fast forward right through the non-track. You then try to stifle the urge to kill as your CD player softly laughs at you with mechanical whirs and spins as it takes you back to the beginning of track one. It’s never happened to me…, but I’ve heard about it.

 

Leaders Not Followers: Part 2 is 19 cover songs. If you’ve ever wanted to know which bands influenced Napalm Death, then have at it. Napalm definitely puts their stink on these covers, but stays true to the spirit of the original recordings. Everything from ‘80s punk and hardcore to early ‘90s metal is covered on this release. I must admit, a good percentage of the song selection is new to me. Apparently, my head was lodged way too far up the ass of Iron Maiden and Metallicaback in the ‘80s to be familiar with the music from bands such as The Offenders, Anti Climax, Discharge, Siege andDie Kreuzen. The exception comes by the way of Hellhammer’s “Messiah”, Kreator’s “Riot Of Violence” and Sepultura’s “Troops Of Doom”. A live video for Cryptic Slaughter’s “Lowlife” was added to the release.

 

The one thing I want to know is where is second guitarist Jesse Pintado? He’s not listed on the cover, nor does he appear on the live video. I tried to find out at the official Napalm Death forum, but posts like “Who’s your favorite member of the band?” quickly discouraged my efforts.

 
This review originally appeared in Written In Blood, January 2005, Issue 193.