Napalm Death stormed into El Paso with friends Dark Sky Burial, Weedeater, and Melvins for a night of heavy-metal punk-rock.
While waiting in line, I realized that there is a certain type of fan that Napalm Death attracts—hardcore, dedicated, alternative lifestyles. These are people who live outside the norm, who smoke niche cigarettes, slam energy drinks, and know how to go wild when the volume kicks in.
With that being said, let’s look at the friends of Napalm Death.
Dark Sky Burial a side project of Shane Embury, the bass player for Napalm Death since 1987. This project is a solo performance weaving an experimental electronic journey with influences of horror and atmospheric textures, blending elements of dark ambient and drone music.
Dark Sky Burial is not the only project that Embury has been involved in over the year. He has branched out into many different concepts. He has performed with grindcore band Unseen Terror and the industrial metal band Blood from the Soul along with many others to list.
In 2024, Embury released his first album under the Dark Sky Burial name, called V.I.T.R.I.O.L. It has 10 amazing songs, each having a similar feel but different meaning—it is well worth a listen. You can find it on vinyl or CD and streaming.
You can check out Dark Sky Burial at the following links:
https://www.facebook.com/darkskyburial
https://www.instagram.com/darkskyburial
Formed in Wilmington, North Carolina, Weedeater is a stoner, sludge-metal band formed in 1998 as a side project of Dave “Dixie” Collins, the former vocalist for Buzzoven. When that band disbanded, he picked up Dave “Shep” Shepard guitarist and drummer Kieth “Keko” Kirkum. From that point on they have released five albums and gone through three drummers, now touring with Ramzi Ateyeh as the current drummer.
They opened their show with “Hammerhandle,” followed with “Mancoon” and “Turkey Warlock,” all songs heavy in sludge-metal form. The band has a lot of similarities to a band I covered last year, Crowbar from New Orleans—but Weedeater takes it to a new level, maintaining that early 2000’s vibe.
My suggestion is to go seek out their work through the links below and find yourself lost in a world of pure stoner metal beats:
http://www.weedmetal.com/homepage.html
https://www.facebook.com/weedmetal
Hailing from Montesano, Washington, Melvins were originally a trio performing grunge and sludge-metal. They can now be seen as a quartet with either two drummer or two bassists. On the night of this performance, there was two drummers.
Melvins is a creation vocalist and guitarist Buzz Osbourne and drummer Dale Crover. They are the original members of the band. With 29 albums under their belt, they are currently touring their latest album, Thunderball.
Buzz Osbourne, dressed in all black, stands at the opposite end of the stage from bassist Steven Shane McDonald, dressed in white—the two stand like opposing forces on stage as their music pours out of the speakers, they blend creating a ying-yang experience. They started the show with “Working the Ditch,” rolled into “The Bloated Pope,” and “Never Say You’re Sorry.” The crowd went wild, and, from that point on, we were all Melvins fans as they keep bring on more and more. By the time they were done, the crowd cheered for an encore as if they were the headlining act. They thanked the crowd as they left the stage.
https://linktr.ee/melvinsdotcom
https://www.facebook.com/melvinsarmy
https://www.instagram.com/melvinsdotcom
Formed in 1981 in England, Napalm Death pioneered grindcore, a fusion of extreme metal and hardcore punk. Interestingly enough, none of the original members of the band remain in the current lineup. The band solidified its core around 1986, with a few exception: bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris, drummer Danny Herrera and lead vocalist Mark “Barney” Greenway have remained consistent through most of the band’s career. The lineup has changed from time to time, adding extra members to the four-piece band. After 44 years, 13 albums later, they have proven that grindcore metal is alive and doing just fine, with hundreds of thousands of fans.
The crowd went crazy as the band stepped on stage, opening with “Multinational Corporations, Part II,” accompanied by “Silence of Deafening.” After that, Greenway spoke on their tour, about how they loved being back in El Paso. Their third song was “Lowpoint,” off the Inside the Torn Apart album. They performed a few songs off different albums, but also did a select off the Scum album.
Truth be told, I had never heard of Napalm Death before the show. I am not sure how I missed them however, I did grow up in a small, backwoods kind of town. But now? I get it. My suggestion is to look up one of these links:
https://www.facebook.com/officialnapalmdeath
https://www.instagram.com/theofficialnapalmdeath
Leave a Reply