Retro-review: ‘Scum’ by Napalm Death

Napalm Death’s 1987 album Scum is an interesting album. It’s not only interesting for its music, but also the story of its recording.

You see, Scum is essentially two albums in a 28-song 33-minute long package.

You heard me right. Twenty-eight songs, 33 minutes.

The average song on this album is quite short, with most falling in a range of being 30 seconds to one minute, thirty seconds long.

The band, or more properly bands, blast through these songs at a sonic pace, never really giving the listener a chance to breathe. There are some breaks in the blast beats, with the band slowing down to a mid-paced grind, but on the most part, you feel like you’re getting shanked repeatedly by the Flash.

I refer to this as essentially two albums by two bands because on the original vinyl recording, the lineup was different on both sides, save for the drummer, Mick Harris. Interestingly, Harris was not an original member himself, joining in 1985, four years after the band formed. At the time Side A of Scum was recorded, Bullen was the only original member left from the 1981 lineup.

Side A consists of Harris, Nick Bullen on vocals and Justin Broadrick on guitar. We’ve talked about Broadrick’s post Napalm Death band, Godflesh, before and he won’t be the only one on this…