Scum

Pretty much not my thing. Much like the other death metal albums on this list, I can respect that these guys do what they do well, but it’s not for me.

1.5

Reminds me of the gang bang in a disabled toilet. Very disappointing and would not recommend.

Still better than Kanye West

I can see where dethklok got its satire from, but not for me

1.5

1.5

This gives me anxiety but the song Suffer was super funny to me.

Interesting idea - didn't love it.

meh

Voces guturales, buenas guitarras, sonidos diferentes. NO es la música que más me gusta, ni mucho menos. Además están Bad Brains o todo lo que hiciera Ian MacKeye, por no hablar de Hüsker Dü...

Ummm....No. Only got a few tracks in, and I recognise the attraction of brevity....but .... God No.

ниче не поняла, 28 песен быстро пролетели и все ни о чем 🫤

I wasn't sure what to expect going in, and wasn't too sure what I listened to afterwards.

Giving this album a low rating feels unfair. Such a pivotal artist and album to form what the present of heavy metal looks like. At times you could hear the sound that would come but I couldn't get past the ultra short songs that am mounted to nothing more than angry white noise.

I was really expecting the worst on this one given the really bad reviews. It’s bad but definitely not a 1 star - the punk influences are there and are appreciated. At least on side 1 - side 2 was much worse. I then read that it wasn’t really even the same band makeup that did the two sides so know I can see why side 2 was so much worse. It it would bar been just side 1 it might have even earned a 3rd star. But then there is the (so called) vocals that just were eff’in terrible. So they made up a genre for when you have a terrible singer and called in grindcore?!?!? But even given the horrid vocal sounds and the really bad side 2 - it still isn’t the worst album by a long shot on this list so gets 2 stars!

Nope, thanks anyway.

Long, yet, short album…28 songs but only 33mins

This album is... kind of silly. I'm not exactly sure what the goal was here. On the occasion that a song is longer than, say, 90 seconds, they occasionally settle into some grooves that are actually pretty interesting -- "Scum" is the song that most caught my attention in this respect, mostly the first half of the song. Same goes for "CS". These two songs, like the album as a whole, become dramatically less enjoyable for me when the vocalist is involved. Overall this just feels extremely fast and abrasive for the sake of being extremely fast and abrasive, which... fine? if you're into that kind of thing? but no thanks.

okay, beetje te voor mij

Messy and frantic, which is what Grindcore is supposed to be, I guess. A couple of the "songs" are structured, but it's mostly short blasts of chunky anger. I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.

I'm a fairly angry person, so I appreciate this album being on this list. Sometimes you just need music that's PHYSICAL. I didn't really enjoy it, and I don't want to listen to it again, but hell, I'll give it a 2 - if for no other reason than to bump it higher than Kid Rock in my ratings.

This was almost three stars because, even though it's not my thing, it's such a specific and intentional vision. But it's like REALLY not my thing.

Synes den beskidte lydkvalitet passede ret godt til den beskidte musik. Men ærlig talt, jeg synes det lyder lidt goofy og på trods af hvor indflydelsesrig den her plade er bliver det lidt ind-af-det-ene-øre-ud-af-det-andet. Jeg er selvfølgelig osse en poptøs. Kunne bedst lide B siden, den lød mest som en demosamling og det er den rigtige æstetik for den her slags musik.

lol. Look, I'll take this over Throbbing Gristle or Captain Beefheart Any. Day. Any. Time. Am I going to seek it out? Nah. If asked in a blind listening test to discern what was going on with the lyrics, I'd be torn between thinking it was a man imitating a dog, or an angry fellow suffering from a serious hernia. Depending on the song.

The kind of thing I could go to live and probably even enjoy, but does little for me otherwise

Joey Luna spent a lot of time introducing me to the world of Grindcore. I have my moments with it, but they're definitely occasional. I do have to give them major points for 28 songs in 33 minutes. Album cover: (A) Metal indeed.

Well, that was intense. Overall: 2.5/5

Just noise

this was like that tierra whack album except it made me so miserable

Nicht mein Ding aber its a mood

Dafür, dass ich es nicht höre, fand ich es gar nicht so schlecht

Not for me but cool

Chaotic, intense, loud, repetitive. Ultimately, boring. I enjoyed listening to this once. There will be no repeat listenings.

yeah mostly yeah, but it's an acquired taste

I didn't mind the death metal / punk vibes of Napalm Death. My only beef with the editors of the list is why include Napalm Death, when they stole their entire schtick from Stormtroopers of Death, who released SPEAK ENGLISH OR DIE two years earlier. They even got the 4 second song gag from SoD's 4 second punk cover of Joan Baez's "Diamonds and Rust". Almost everything on that album was aped on this one. The SoD is more original and entertaining.

I bet that there were some smart lyrics about the human condition and the world today mixed in with the noise. I just wish I could have understood the message. With song titles like “Multinational Corporations”, I was hoping for a more of a call to action than a person ranting and screaming. How can I help if I can’t understand what the problem is?

I liked the beginning of scum the single. Human garbage was good too, but I’m not a fan of the dog barking over blast beats with endless cymbals sound (I suffer). Cool album art.

I went into this one with some preconceived notions, and I'll be honest: It's not for me. To their credit I actually finished this one and I can't say that about every album we've had here There's more to like here than I would have guessed. The thick guitar riffs + some of the more restrained drumming is a cool sound. I like blast beats in moderation but sustained blast beats feel like a maximal energy way to rob a song of any energy. I wish I could get into the head of someone who likes these vocals to understand why, but I don't. Favs: Instinct of survival Siege of power C.S.

Um. Not sure how this got on the list, unless it was just first of it's kind. Very hard to distinguish difference between each song. I like some death metal with undistinguishable vocals, but those tend to have some sort of rhythm to the rest of the music. This was just non stop thrash. But five minutes felt the same as the entire 30+ minutes.

today i suffer. but why???!!! 2/5

Und wo isch da d Melodie im Gsang? Guete drive, spannend, wänn nur de Gsang nüd wär... Aso de Lemy singt schöner. Und am 24.2.25 sinds als Headliner im Z7 gsie

hahahah was isch de erst song? hahahah. aaaarsch gmixt. aber ich checks gad? bi huere überrascht. die cymbals töned scheeeeeisse. hahaba scum de song fangt kohärent ah und denn afoch blast beats hahaha. weiss nöd obis dure schaff am stuck. haha es isch alles recht extrem. die dramatische pünkt bi caught... in a dream. was sind das für duuudes? aha es sind zwei bands haha. aso zweis sessions nur de drummer isch bi beidne gsi. alli so churz die songs. finds gad recht stressig. ich wird fix es zwei geh aber da isch für mich high praise für musig woni so nie wird lose. ahaaaaa da isch de chürzist song ever ei sekunde HAHAHAH. son funny stunt.

Best thing about this album are the reviews. I found myself tapping my feet and rather enjoying the riffs, but then it just devolved into noise.

Heavy incoherent punk that wasn’t really for me.

easy to have on in the background and terrible to listen to, which is about routine for death metal/grindcore. 2 stars.

not for me

Extrem aggressives Metal Album das overpaced und ausser Wut und Gewalt kaum musikalisch ist -definitiv kein Hörgenuss.

Not much to like about this album, but not much that I hated either.

EZ. xD Songs are short and album itself is also short. Can I appreciate this genre?! Probably not. But I laughed so much in some songs, where he was singing and I couldn't understand these sophisticated lyrics, and all I could hear was dog barking. >D Vau vau vau vau... Vau vau vau vau... Luved it!

How the fuck this album has 28 songs in 33 minutes?

говнометал какой то грайнкор, но то что это 80 это звучит свежо пздц

Well that’s enough of that.

This album is one where I appreciate that the band had something unique going on more than I enjoyed the music itself. Favorite Track: You Suffer

I think the singer changed at one point because it went from ROARRRRRRRRRRRRR to more of a WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! That was the best moment.

This was pretty harsh. Listenable but on the edge.

This rips. And it's quite funny. But it's absolutely knackering. 💀💀💀

Not my style - even for death metal

No lo terminé y ya estoy cansado. Horrendo estilo que nunca pude disfrutar. Doble bombo y canto gutural no equivalen a nada por si solos. Nota: 1.7 y pongo 2 porque aunque sea es el primer disco así que se sugiere.

That one review stayed in my head longer than a single second from this album.

Interesting choice for this list. The music is frantic and often not synced with the vocals. It’s fast and loud, which is the style, but that makes it less technically impressive. At least the songs and album are short. 2.5/5 Probably won’t listen again

Not a fan. The vocals are a hard pass for me. I tried to give the instruments a chance, and while they were okay individually together they were a mess. At least the songs were short.

Not sure this really deserves to have the 4th lowest overall rating.

Not my brand of metal.

First? 2,5/5 Again? 1,5/5

Very funny album. Turn the dial all the way up to the max, why not? Is it good? No, not really. Is it cool that they made this? Hell yeah.

Music is alright, but I don't speak Napalmi, so couldn't understand the lyrics.

“Divine Death” is the standout track because it is the only song to feature briefly intelligible vocals. The rest is growling grindcore metal where devotion to speed outweighs intelligibility, rhythm, and musical technique. Drums are hit as loud and as fast as possible, same with the guitars and microphone. Sounds like all the grindcore local bands I grew up with. But those hometown groups were no doubt aping these iconoclasts. Grindcore is a style, that much is certain.

I get it, it's fine, but the idea of hearing it again doesn't fill me with joy

Just a little too, well, everything that it is. Too much of all that.

Was fine at first, although the grunting isn't for me; but the latter (well over) half of the album ruined it for me, that should've all been cut imo.

Not really my thing

Almost charming with how (I guess) it is trying to provoke. Reminds me a bit of a 14 year old painting his bedroom black and wearing a lot of studs. Bless you Napalm Death, you keep showing us what big boys you are. Perhaps I would be more impressed if I could understand literally a single word the vocalist was grunting into the microphone. If you listen to just one of these songs, you've basically heard them all. Second album I've heard on the list that's so bad it's good after S&M by Metallica. However, I'm very glad this is on the list, this is the sort of album participants should be being made to listen to, such an outlier from the mainstream, and I have to say this was a much easier listen and less of an endurance test than most of the more mainstream albums on the list. Honestly torn on how to rate this. On one hand, it is almost objectively garbage. On the other, I certainly enjoyed listening to it.

Great rhythms but don't relate to the vocals

Good grief - it's quite something.

I love metal but this was a tough listen. Every song sounds the same, like they entered a competition to smack drums as quickly as possible. When they actually slowed the songs down, they weren't so bad. The singing on the other hand is like an unholy mix of the cookie monster and Arnold Schwarzenegger. But while the music is terrible, they absolutely nailed the name of the album and band, as well as the album cover. I guess that shows some sort of vision.

The two stars are for the whole tranny jumping and the wheelchair dude.

Mental

Classic case of thinking it wasn't as bad as I was expecting then realising the speaker was playing stuff just 'like' Napalm Death. So double the grindcore for me. Still, there was melody, in so much as it wasn't atonal, riffs & brief. I actually listened again to decide if 1 or 2 because on first listen this was no way as bad as Throbbing Gristle or Butthole Surfers. And lol to the 1 second long song. My ears are ringing but it's not in the same bracket as the other 1 ⭐s. Wonder what the lyrics are...

Coarse, grating, and utterly inaccessible but at least it wasn't 90 minutes of songs about women filled with endless twelve-bar blues solos.

Well, I knew this day would come so I suppose I was better prepared then most. Like any normal human I wanted to turn this off half way through the 2nd track, "Instinct of Survival". Perhaps it was just morid curiosity to see how much worse it could get had me leave it on for my entire drive to work on the first really cold day of winter 10f (-11c!). It was pretty much all the same song with the rapid drums, way to loud everything and of course there's unintelligible "singing" . "Siege of power" had a guitar solo. At least towards the end that other guy started screaming some like a weird little goblin. Deserves 1 star for being objectively awful but I made it through the whole thing, so Gott help me it gets 2 stars. Album cover is kinda cool

Extra point for the shortest track „You Suffer“ and the partly unwilling humouristic appeal.

2.1 2x catch up 12/6/24 interesting album and short

okay.. instrumentals weren’t bad, but the vocals are not my thing.

Every song sounds the exact same and there are 28 of them

Every now and then, creeping through mindless haze, is a short-lived glimpse of a cool riff or drum beat, before the curtain quickly descends and the haze consumes us as we are pummelled with blast beats and guttural nonsense. Like we’re being teased with the faint aroma of something sweet before waking up chained to a post in the middle of a rubbish dump.

Im glad this exists, this should exist dammit, the purity and relentlessness is a statment to absurd fast paced nihilism. Did i enjoy it....errr

a headache and a half but i know it's on purpose. i can still identify skill and interesting musical ideas even, just played extremely fast to the point of unrecognizability. makes sense that music like this exists but I will not be revisiting. 2

Not bad, but the vocal style of grindcore just doesn't suit me

My tolerance for this stuff is increasing but it was still a tough listen. Mercifully brief which keeps it from 1 territory.

Troglodytic yowls Metallic cacophony Blasted into you

Fast non technical metal, which is the opposite of what I usually prefer if metal. Really short tracks. Terrible vocal. The recording sounds like shit.

Added a star because I like the anti-capitalist elements of the lyrics. Shame you can't understand them without reading along as you go Really not into the music or vocals at all I'm afraid

Powerful sludge metal but just not for me.

My favorite part of this album is how short the songs are. It made me feel like I was getting to the end faster. However, there are like 70 goddamn songs and it just kept going. I will give Napalm Death credit though. They managed to be creative enough to come up with that many different song titles while somehow making them all sound EXACTLY the same! I find it hard to believe that even their #1 fan could correctly name one song on this album by anything other than a guess.

It’s crap but at least it’s short. Growling and screaming. Drums played at light speed. Terrible.

I get why people like this kind of music, though clearly I am in the majority when I say I don’t. The singer sounds like he’s throwing up into microphone! Shoutout to the quick runtime though. It was an easy listen — didn’t even feel like 30 minutes.

Eh, some OK parts but even for grindcore a lot of this felt sloppy. Not the worst but prob wouldn't listen again even during a workout.

Lol, what?

ett plus för you suffer

I'd gladly marathon this over the likes of Adele or Taylor Swift any day of the week.

These vocals are too funny to give it one star.

The most romantic album I've ever heard.

It's not the easiest listen, granted. But it's easier to listen to than Mariah Carey.

Obviously you have to have very specific tastes to really latch onto abrasive sub-genres like this and truly be in love with them. It isn't my personal taste, but I do recognize the appeal of this album to those who are into that style.

I am 16 years old, politely waiting through six bands that sound like this to see one I like. music: hated, but not all that much. (⌐■_■)

A couple decent sections here and there but at the end of the day it feels like unintelligible garbage. Did it potentially have an impact on the metal scene? Who knows, but this album simply isn't something I'd ever like to revisit. The second side seemed a little more polished and most of the band as they are known now were not involved in the record so it seems this was a discovery/concept piece.

Was it really 28 songs or 28 variations of the same song? Like a child’s tantrum, thankfully it was over quickly.

That one part in the song where he said, "Borogoroga waagaja!" Man! It really hit me in the feels. Such tender restraint. And then there was that other song where they all thrashed on their instruments for a minute or so, melodically. Just wow! Jesus Christ. This is why Animal isn't the lead singer in Electric Mayhem.

Important as a historical artifact and it's influence, no fun to listen to (and I like Napalm Death in general)

Noisy and unintelligible it may be, but it's still less irritating than the Pet Shop Boys. Respect the chops!

Fkn joises

Kind of just hit me as a worse version of thrash metal, though I know that this is influential.

Tavallaan hauskaa, kun ei tätä kuunnellessa tiedä, mitä seuraavaksi tulee, mutta aika samaa sieltä tulee. Ero vain, onko lyhyt vai pitkä biisi ja muutetaanko rytmiä jossain vaiheessa. En inhoa tän kuuntelemista missään nimessä ja arvostan konseptia (sekä kasarikaikuja).

Kahden vokalistin yhteispeli toimii. Musiikissa myös johtomotiivin kaltaisia elementtejä. Valitettavasti tuplabasari ja blast beat vaikuttavat tylsistyttävästi. Levyyn puutuu ainakin vain pari kertaa kuunnelleena.

One of the most bizarre and schizophrenic things I've ever heard. This is what metal sounds like to people who don't like metal. It did actually win me over a little bit just because of how absurd it was. Unfortunately so far the metal representation on this list has been awful

Can't really tell one song from the next. I don't know what we're yelling about.

28 canciones, 33 minutos. Sacrificed suena como cuando me baño con agua fría en invierno. Y bueno, los amigos que fueron a Dresden a divertirse merecen este disco.

I like metal and sometimes death metal but there’s a mood and when you’re not in it this just doesn’t hit right. For what it is and how short the album was I wasn’t too harsh in my ratings.

Scum It's just fast and shouty. I was expecting something so aggressive and abrasive that it would be shocking. But it's just fast drumming and unintelligible shouting, and it just feels silly. If you are sad and/or angry then I can see the appeal in making and listening to this type of thing, and good on them for doing it and hopefully it is cathartic. Clearly it's not made for me, and I dislike just dismissing stuff that isn't my thing, but I'm struggling to work out the point of this - at least with other metal we've had I can work out the intent and it doesn't sound as daft as this does. Maybe its that with Iron Maiden or Metallica, even though I'm not into it or them, I can see their contribution to the lineage of metal, building on what came before, but this feels like a logical end point, a musical cul de sac of 30 second songs, super fast with no melody and incomprehensible shouting. I still loath to give it 1 though, it doesn't annoy me in the way Xtina does ⭐⭐

Interesting album. Early thrash. 28 songs in 33 minutes is a crazy approach.

Well... It does (did?) push the boundaries of what music is. By reading some of the reviews, it also elicits a lot of different emotions, you don't forget this album even if you don't enjoy it. Perhaps why it's on the list.

Some good thrashy riffs, and some crazy drumming, but I didn't exactly enjoy listening to it. I tend to like heavier music / metal in general, but this is a bit too much.

Þetta var hræðilegt.

Svakalega þétt en of þungt fyrir mig.

felt like I was back at a basement show in junior year. not my favorite

Yesterday’s music was kind of like fairy music, very ethereal and fun and light. But today’s music was like the devil’s music, crazy headbanging screaming music!

Not a huge fan of this particular metal sub-genre. I appreciate the energy from the frenetic rhythm, but nothing else.

I can appreciate the musical talent but the vocals are incomprehensible unfortunately

Not the first time I've heard Napalm Death, but definitely the first time I've actually listened to them. I actually like some (but definitely not all) of the instrumentals, but the vocalist sometimes sounds like Randy Marsh having a psychotic meltdown.

Greatest soundtrack to comedy movie about metal music yet to be written.

I think this album’s biggest flaw, if I could pick only one, would be that there are almost 30 songs on the album in about 30 minutes. This doesn’t give the listener any time to get invested in the music. Feels like right when it gets going it stops. The shitty production and lackluster writing don’t help. Instrumentation is the only thing here that feels inspired. Like the album cover though. 2/5

A little goes a long way here

For a metal album, it's not bad. It's just not my style.

This album seems to be pretty infamous and I didn’t really get anything out of it. I think I zone out a lot when listening to metal. Not my genre, but also nothing stuck out to me, so I’ll give it a 2.

Oof

Meh

When I first saw how many tracks there were I was horrified. Then I saw the majority were less than 2 minutes long. I’m reminded of one of my favorite jokes from the Drew Carey Show. “I may not be very good at sex, but at least I’m fast” Once I looked up the lyrics I dug their nihilist anger… I can only assume that’s what they were really saying. By the end of the first half I was kinda getting into it. Some real good riffs and just driving rocking metal. Then the second half ruined it. Gone were the riffs and even slightly followable vocals. Now it’s all speed drums and screeching. Even if a song started with good instrumentation it quickly devolved into speed drums and screeching.

Wow! English Grindcore! According to the wiki. Just what we needed. So that MUST mean that there are maybe 4 more Metallica albums, 2 Slipknots, some Killswitch Engage and Iron Maiden on this list since we are getting what I'd describe as the music in that one scene in Ace Ventura when he visits his tech buddy at the concert. I hope they marketed this album as 30 songs in 30 minutes because that is what it is. Maybe that is why this album is on the list, so we could see that the blokes across the pond can thrash too. Well I'll let you in on a little secret, mate. When it comes to thrashing about against tyranny, you might think the UK are experts with their Punk and all that, god save the queen. But none of them hold a candle to the descendants of those who fled the UK and their tyranny, and thrashed about on the open ocean to arrive in America (Yes I know Sabbath and I think Maiden are UK but that really isn't the point is it?). At least they were self aware enough to label this "Scum".

Here we go, I'm always game for an album on this site's global best or worst list, we're ever approaching the end of our journey so each one we get feels like a critical milestone. This one is the fourth worst, and surprisingly the three rated lower are all albums I really enjoyed (Kollaps, Throbbing Gristle, Duck Stab were all cool as shit). This one, I'm afraid, fails to hit the mark. Granted, I'm not much of a metal fan to begin with, but this one is all gas no brakes in a way that's not just exhausting but hard to grasp. The average track length is not much longer than a minute; each is a sprint to the finish line with instruments played as hard and as fast as humanly possible. I don't hate that, but most of the songs end before I can even really appreciate them. No surprise, then, that the one I liked was one of only three that was over two minutes long. I can't give this a one star because I know there's merit here, I know this is a style that is intentional and meaningful in its own way. But as far as listening experiences go, it's pretty bad, and to me something of a failed experiment. They didn't make a fan out of me. Favorite tracks: Instinct of Survival. Album art: Really cool cover, black and white heap of horrors. Some politicians or industry leaders gathered around, I don't know, starving children walking with a messiah? Skulls in the foreground (with nice little corporate logos nestled throughout), industry in the background, and who's at the backs of the men but the angel of death. Incredible how much is going on here, and how none of that cut through the music to me. But I'll be damned if this isn't a great album cover. SCUM indeed. 2/5

I love heavy metal, and i know why people don't like this album 'cause it's actually not really easy to listen if you don't like the genre. In certain way i liked it, but i'm the very end of the album i was asking for it to just stop. I like that this album sounds like heavy metal of the 00's, so that's great for an album that was made in 1987.

Powerful short burst lyrics concerning crushing capitalism that are somehow even more relevant now 40 years later, angst and reflections on the human condition, or at least that’s what music match lyrics tell me as I genuinely couldn’t understand a word this man said. 9/10 of the songs I’m sure he wasn’t even saying what the lyrics suggest. I understand this isn’t my genre and I’m willing to cut some slack however I found this one hard to get through mainly as I couldn’t grasp a single lyric. Musically it had points where it feels at least like your waging into war on doom on the Super Nintendo so that stops me hammering out a 1. And the lyrics themselves are interesting provocative and relevant , again I just couldn’t get them. The bits are there , my ears are not.

Better than the BeeGees

Hm. Not exactly my first choice for something to listen to, but it's nice to know that the band drew a regular crowd in Birmingham's The Mermaid, so that European punk/hardcore bands could play there too (not so cool that the Mermaid owner never paid Napalm Death for their appearances). And it's always inspiring to read about how one of the band members (and apparently the only one to play on both sides of this album) had a driving goal as a musician, although "extremely fast drumming" seems a bit limited as far as goals go...but I think he largely achieved that goal, at least on this album. It's hard to imagine listening to the CD reissue of this album, as it apparently contained *54* songs on it, few of which were as blissfully short as that "Silicon Valley"-featured song "You Suffer", but still, 54 is about 50 songs too many. However, I'll give credit to the concept that "Scum" was "the conclusion of a ten-year competition for the fastest and hardest sound, marking the point from which neither speed nor intensity could increase" (from the Wikipedia article). We can only hope that this means no more of this kind of album in the 1001 Greatest Albums collection....

Wow that was a thing. And it could have been worse. It could have been longer. And, actually, worse.

Somewhere along the way I started imagining that the vocals were performed by Animal from the Muppets, and that made the album just a bit enjoyable.

I’ve certainly heard of Napalm Death before, but I’m not sure if I’ve actually heard any of their songs. It’s definitely a pretty banging band name though. I feel like I know exactly what to expect going into this. But who knows, maybe I’ve been misled and they’re actually the originators of bubblegum pop. Probably not though. Songs I already knew: none Favourites: You Suffer For the first 10 minutes or so of this, I was thinking this is pretty decent angry metal music. However, the longer it went on, the more it started to sound like a South Park parody of death metal. I swear for the most part the vocals are just gutturally saying, “wauwouwaahhhh”. Also, it’s 28 tracks in 33 minutes, and that’s wild. Overall, it’s ok if a bit unintentionally silly.

I can see how people like the high energy of it but not for me. Every genre deserves an album on here but hopefully none more from this genre. Rating: 1.7

I have not heard of this album or band before. From the album cover I could tell exactly what this album would sound like. They have pretty strong instrumentals that I appreciated and good metal vocals but nothing really stood out to me. For that reason, I don’t think I will listen again.

It's not for me.

Apparently a landmark grindcore album. It sounds like the band started writing each song and halfway through decided to make it very loud in the hopes that no one would care that it's not complete. The longer tracks are a bit better. 'Siege of Power' is the only one I'd return to. Obviously though, the effect of jumping from one track to the next in rapid succession is part of the charm for fans, to the point of absolutely absurdity. I have to kind of admire the ridiculousness of releasing a 1 second song as a single. But as a listening experience, 'Scum' is mostly tedious with a handful of good moments that disappear as fast as they emerge.

I don't know whether to give it a 1 because it was so unpleasant, or a 2 because it didn't bother me.

3 / 10 Grindcore, voces guturales y música que por momentos no es más que ruido. No es escuchable para mí.

Technically impressive. But honestly, I don’t get it. Despite multiple listens I couldn’t understand the lyrics. I love punk, hardcore, and most fast and loud music (from musicians that aren’t anywhere near as technically gifted as Napalm Death), but I couldn’t get into this album regardless how hard I tried. I feel like everything just kind of jumbled together to my ears. Every song sounded like the same mush. Maybe I should give myself 2 stars instead of the album… I’m glad I had an excuse to check this out but frankly I don’t think I want to revisit anytime soon.

not my jam

Just a bit much this really

absolutely *not* the worst album on the list

Metal isn't not my stuff it seems

There wasn’t much for me in this album. 13 or 14-year-old me probably would’ve loved it. I don’t really listen to this much anymore so I didn’t do anything for me. I only like the one song scum and that was it.

Actually, you know what? I already listened to music before I came over. Yeah man. I’m good, really.

Grindcore not really my thing. Actually hard to rate this

Grindcore, hardcore-punk, male, growls, very fast, iconic grindcore, puts a smile on my face, but gives me nothing, live funny

I've seen and enjoyed Napalm Death live. They are great fun. I don't think this comes across here... its fine as background music but nothing particularly jumped out.

It just felt like noise. The instruments were great though.

Scum is the debut album by English grindcore band Napalm Death. The album is split into two sides for two different recording sessions spanning multiple years. The first half is more like hardcore punk, while the second half is extreme heavy metal, making the fusion of these genres grindcore. This is one of the most acclaimed albums from the European grindcore scene and was the culmination of a decade long search for the hardest and fastest sound. Fun fact: the song "You Suffer" won the Guinness Book of Records' world's shortest song, at precisely 1.316 seconds long. Overall, this was a demented, heavy album. It's chaotic, while being hard hitting and entertaining. Personally, I enjoyed the longer, more thought out tracks from the first half of the album, and some of the tracks on the second half started to sound the same. Any fans of heavy metal or hardcore punk will appreciate this album.

I’m sure this album is held in high regards by the metal community but it’s just not my cup of tea.

Too heavy for me

Technically impressive, but just too extreme to be enjoyable

It’s not that it’s bad, it’s just not my taste.

not for me!

A littoral too heavy for me.

Very hard hitting metal, music was actually alright, probably wouldn't listen again though

Entertainingly bad? There's something amusing hearing the "vocals" scream unintelligible nonsense over just ridiculous drums and guitar riffs. It's definitely an album to listen to one time and then never again.

I get its anarchic but it’s not fun to listen to. It’s like seeing a canvas smeared with shit in an art gallery. I’ll always prefer a nice inoffensive Constable.

At least it was short?

NGL if there were no vocals, I wouldn't hate it.

To quote Monty Python: they are not scum, they are just naughty boys. Find this really boring, am into punk but then the one that is exciting. Fully deserved 2 stars

I will either thoroughly enjoy metal music, or I'll find it exquisitely awful. This is the latter. It reminds me of going to local hardcore shows back in high school. But unlike those shows, I'm not happy to be a part of the experience. A good gripper of solid riffs and rolls keep this from being completely unpalatable.

In a nutshell: short, fast, loud. Recorded by the pioneers of grindcore - a sub-genre that fuses punk, metal, industrial, anarchy and the kitchen sink. Not my kind of thing but feel that genre and sub-genre diversity is important for this project. Overall: 4/10.

Someone needs to calm down and take a throat lozenge. Sounds like Animal from the Muppets stubbing his toe and falling down stairs.

did not dislike the music. cant stand the singing. 3/10

Did what it was supposed to do. Super heavy metal just isn’t really my thing

Pretty rowdy and brutal stuff. I think the second half was better. In all likelihood will never listen to this again

2.25

I don’t hate this album’s music. Grindcore is not something I listen to really, but I like hardcore and death metal so theoretically I should like grindcore. Not exactly. I like the aggression, but it’s not being channeled properly here. The songs are punchy, but they are more concerned with packing as many drums and strums than they are with writing a balanced song. The singing is not my thing either. I recognize that this style has its adherents, but even in its context, it doesn’t seem to have been mixed well and is drowned out by the music. Much of what I think is wrong with this album comes down to half-baked ideas and bad production instincts.

I love death metal and still hate this album. Some good riffs but mostly garbage

yea... no....

Definitely a lot heavier than I typically enjoy, but this was a solid album. I enjoyed the "A-Side" more but overall there was a lot of cool riffs on this one. The drumming was locked in and kept pushing the album forward like a well oiled machine. The four second "You suffer" was ridiculous. The middle and back half of the album had some good scream-o but that's not my scene. Overall a mixed bag.

Musically, I can see why people enjoy this. It is NOT for me.

I feel like this is what you get when your band consists of a drummer who can't really play time very well so just bashes around randomly, your guitar player only knows three power chords and two strumming patterns, and you don't have a singer so your weird neighbor from across the street comes over and makes random sounds in the mic which are mostly in time but not always. And what's with an album that has 28 songs and is 33 minutes long? I love metal but this doesn't really count. 2 stars because at least there are real instruments present.

While the sound of grindcore doesn't much appeal to me, I at least know what it is I am listening to. The back half of the album was way better than the front half.

too much for me

My head still hurts but it was better than listening to the Fox announcers while watching the TTUN v. MD game

Cool little short spurts of heavy metal madness. I love the guitar playing and the instrumentals in general. However the cadence of the vocals does really play in that charicature of nonsensical dog woofing metal vocals.

Ikke helt min smak

Bit heavy

Why so many short songs, literally a 4 second song on here, breaks up the album too much for me, actually quite liked Seige of power and Scum, longest 2 songs on the album, rest felt too stop/start for me

Absolutely not my thing

boring after second song

no es mi tipo ni loco. deberia leer las letras. muy zarpado igualmente

Innovation doesn't always show up dressed in white satin.

I only really know this album from the global stats page of the generator, namely it being on the worst reviewed albums and the legendary review about a guy fucking a fat goth chick in Dresden to this song. I can't really articulate the vibes of this album any better than that guy did but I will say that I didn't think it was unlistenable trash. Obviously I wouldn't listen to it more than the 33 minutes (with 28 songs lol) I had to but I was fine with the hardcore punk/thrash metal guitars and the unintelligible vocals weren't as grating as I've found them to be on shit Sepultura albums and the like. I also liked that they really hammered home the anti-capitalist messaging using comedically gothic song titles and cover art since you can't understand the lyrics

Rating: 4/10

It wasn’t too unpleasant for me or anything, but I thought by the end it was just too much of the same kinda stuff. I don’t hate the idea of screamy distorted music, but I feel like there’s only so much you can do with this particular subgenre. It probably was quite influential in that subgenre though

A hilarious album. Only at all enjoyable because of how short the songs were. I don't plan on listening to this again but it was funny and I'm glad I've heard it once

2 stars purely for the comedic value

helvetillistä musiikki aina naapurissa sama pauhu.. meikä kehtaa kuunnella.. kuunneltiin kuitenkin... pauhaa edelleen päässä.. high art kuitenkin..

the 1 second song is awesome

What is this noise. Like a poor man's slayer, with even lower growl vocals. Maybe good at the time but this has not aged well at all. Two stars for some riffs and some of the drumming

Precursores del thrash más bestia. Canciones muy parecidas entre sí. Batería repetitiva y guitarras intensas. No es un género que me llame especialmente

Thought #1: initially enjoyed the fuzzy sound of the instruments, but the album wore on me quick. Thought #2: if Golem from Lord of the Rings ever had a chance at being a singer in a band, it was with this band.

Not enjoyable listening, but I knew that already. Trying to find likeable things to note: the album cover has a clever, albeit ham fisted, socio-political comment about big corporations and the selfish uncaring attitude of wholly capitalistic ventures. The drumming is almost incredible, hIghlighted in a few songs before the bass and guitars kick in. As a student of music I appreciate the occasional metal riffs that may have influenced other hardcore speed metal and industrial bands.

Is it an album I’d like to listen to again? No. But is it actively bad like some of the albums on this list? Definitely not. You Suffer was the greatest 1.316 seconds of my life though. 3/10

I'm not opposed to metal, I like metal. I respect metal. Apparently these guys paved a lot of roads for other major metal acts, and good for them. But I do not understand how anyone ever heard this and enjoyed it. It's just so rough. And not the music, it's the shitty shitty production here. With a little bit more effort this could have been tolerable. It just feels like exactly what would happen if you gave a group of delusional 16 year old kids that just picked up their instruments for the first time 2 days ago free reign to record their "masterpiece". It's garbage. I'm saving it from 1 star because I do wanna pay my respect to these fucking nutcases for just doing their thing.

Look, I'm an unapologetic metal-head. I love hardcore and spent most of my 20s in the pit. I'm used to the growls and screams of the genre and they don't generally put me off. But, even for me, this is a bit much with the incoherent grunting. But that's not really the main issue. The problem is that, while there are a few decent songs here, most of the album is filled with... filler. Which is saying something when you take into account the total runtime of under 35 minutes. It's just a lot of noisy pieces of songs instead of actual songs. It just comes across as lazy. The few tracks that manage to last past the 2-minute mark are pretty decent, though, and save the album from being a complete fail.

I hate short songs but using a 0.01 min song as a lead single is kinda funny... but as most metal albums I found it very boring... I could sleep to this honestly but not in a good way

Death metal for sure. I can appreciate what they did, but I don’t care to listen to that again

Люблю метал, но это мешанина какая то

So much drums! I like the super fast noisey thing! The tempos are all over the place on a couple of these. I liked the couple times they did a slow sludgey thing. They didn’t quite nail those slow heavy grooves though if they could do th Black Sabbath thing too I’d love it so much- I really craved that contrast. I dig the super short song concept but whenever there was anything I liked it moved on before anything could develop. I liked the super fast chuggy guitar riffs but wish there were stronger lead parts, it doesn’t need to be super flashy or shreddy but something melodic to grab onto because the vocals don’t really provide that either. Maybe I’m looking too much at what is not rather than what it is- I just kept thinking there’s a version of this that could be better…

Well, at least that was only 33 minutes. I actually don't mind the instrumentation - yes it can be manic at times but there are some decent beats, even melodic at times. The guitarwork is actually pretty impressive. But the vocals. Are those even words? Later bands like Slipknot, while not perfect either, show it doesn't just have to be grunting all the time. I get why this album is on this list - every genre needs to be listened to at least once. It's just too hardcore for me. I did think about a 3 though.

What's good: Drums and guitars What's bad (horrible): Scream/yell/barking of the lead "singer", Every song is the same. The album just goes on forever. The drummer kicks ass and the guitars are fast and hard. It would have been a better album just as an instrumental, the 'singer' really destroyed the album. Best track is probably "Scum". 2.5/5

I guess I can see why some would enjoy this because the guitar got my foot bouncing a bit at times but the screaming and barking really made this a no for me.

I can see why a lot of people would hate this album automatically upon first listen. It is loud, aggressive, brutal, primal, chaotic, fast, and extreme. I really like the music itself, but I really really hate this incomprehensible garbage vocal "style". It sounds so stupid. The title track, "Scum" was my favorite song on here.

As much as I like metal, I didn't like this much

Not completely disgusting. Music is not bad but the vocals destroyed everything.

Best Song: Born On Your Knees. Finally, a discernible and likeable riff. Worst Song: You Suffer. I hate that they even thought this was clever. Overall: It's really a feat to have an album of 28 songs, each only a minute or so on average, and yet have them all be so boring that you find yourself wanting to skip ahead halfway through each one. The album is fine as a sort of musical embodiment of rage, and it would serve as a good soundtrack for the physicality of bouncing around, but is pretty garbage to try to listen to casually.

Multinational Corporations is just noise to me, lmao. But then Instinct of Survival comes on, and the guitars bring some melody. I'm not really into the vocals though, it's been probably a decade since I was into death metal vocals, hahaha. Still, it's really cool to hear this album out of 1987, because you can kind of hear where bands that came after got their inspiration. Even a nu-metal band like Korn comes to mind, not to mention danish bands like Hatesphere, and a kind of joke band, like Red Warszawa. So while I dig some of the guitar and drums on some of the tracks, those kinds of vocals just don't resonate with me anymore. Teenage me would've been all over them though!

I wonder what he’s saying?

Found this surprisingly tolerable if not good

kinda funny scrolling through the 28-track list and thinking "god, why is *every* album I must listen to before I die a bloated, 90-minute epic?"* So, props on having one of the longest tracklists here yet being one of the few albums below 55 minutes here. *Seriously, the anglocentric aspect gets enough flak in these reviews, but the constant preference for BIG STATEMENT double albums deserves its share of consternation.

Definitely not what I would normally listen to. I was in a bit of an odd mood, so I guess this kind of worked for me. Glad to see it was only 30mins though - any longer and it might have started to grate.

no

It had to be done and they did it. Well done.

One of the best Grindcore albums I’ve ever heard

I don’t care much for grindcore, but occasionally ND’s anarcho- and crust-punk influences come to the surface in a brief moment of accessibility.

28 songs, 33 minutes long. Couldnt understand a single word and it was labeled explicit. 2.5-3 rating. Nowhere near the best thing I’ve heard but far from the worst

Me: this ain't so inaccessible. I'm not hating this Also me: we must also be done. What! Only half way through a 30 something minute album?! Feels like it has been way longer! Grindcore takes some outa ya.

Oh my goodness. This is unlistenable to the point of complete hilarity. I just laughed as I listened to this, read the lyrics (you can't understand a word of them, adding to the general hilarity), and read the reviews. So funny. It gets 2 stars rather than 1 because it's blessedly short and so entertaining. It takes a lot of skill (especially that drummer!) to sound like this, you have to respect that degree of effort for something so utterly unlistenable.

Not for me

Wow - what a ride! Perhaps one of those albums I did need to listen to before I die. Now ready to meet my maker. Can only imagine how exhausted the drummer would be after a live gig. Lot of technical brilliance, but - no surprise - can't stand the vocals. You Suffer was a treat though.

not my thing 👹

1/25- Going to school (blizzard)

My ears are bleeding. I can’t hear any words. Guitar is epic. And drumming is absolutely wild.

Not for me but it needs to exist for other bands to exist.

I'm somewhat surprised Napalm Death is on this list. I definitely see their influence in metal / specifically death metal, but I think it's not nearly as large in magnitude when compared to a lot of other bands with similar sounds (Suffocation, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel). I'm guessing that they are here though because of age- they were around in the early 1980's compared to the mid/late 80s like those other 3 acts that I listed that I personally think are much better than ND. Napalm Death are famous for their super short tracks. It might not be on this album but I think they have one song that has a music video that is 13 seconds or so long. Pretty funny. The song "Scum" has a main guitar riff, and it is essentially the same exact guitar riff as the first guitar riff that I ever wrote. I wasn't aware of Napalm Death at the time and wasn't really listening to this kind of sludgy death metal so I'm convinced it was coincidence, but I think it's funny that this band would have that riff and (regardless of time for the sake of argument) it is so similar to a riff that I wrote after playing guitar for like 4 months. This is a very funny nuance in the psychology of being a musician and I think that it somehow unconsciously waters down my enjoyment of them. "Polluted Minds" into "Sacrificed", tracks 5 and 6, are a good example of why I hesitate to add them to this list. The songs sound very very similar, and there's not much substance in general there. Sure, it's an emotion, and music should convey emotion, but there's not much to get from there. 2/5.

2.5 Loud, but I can see why people that like this kind of music would be attracted to it.

I didn’t turn it off but boy was that a long half an hour

I can’t fully hate a band who has the audacity to put a four second track on an album with a straight face

Ah, Napalm Death... I appreciate that they exist, and I am sure they were heaps of fun live, but do I really want to sit down and listen to this album? It is hilariously badly recorded; guitars awash with chorus (side a), bass like a fart, cookie monster vocals and cymbals, cymbals everywhere. So many cymbals... Confession time; my band in the 90s did a Napalm Death inspired song, that ran to 15 seconds. At one memorable gig at Macquarie University, we played it nearly a dozen times in row, which we thought was hilarious. The audience was less impressed. I admire the pace and energy, and I love the commitment to brevity. "You Suffer" is a landmark in that respect. Much is stated of their 'socially aware' lyrics, but I mean, really, how can you tell? And it all starts sounding pretty similar after 10 or 15 songs, especially the less developed material on side b. In truth, you only ever need to listen to one Napalm Death song, and that is their cover of "Nazi Punks Fuck Off" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdkdR92a7dU

Are these... words? Is the lead singer speaking or just screaming random syllables into the microphone? I honestly can't tell; he sounds like the heavy metal version of the Swedish Chef. The best thing I can say for this album is that it's only 33 minutes long, which is about all I could stand. Not the worst thing I've listened to; it could have been much, much worse. But definitely not anywhere near the best I've listened to either.

On the plus side, at the time I was starting to loathe the album it was almost done, props for that. Grindcore sound is so so so boring… like you just know they try too hard to sound hard it’s embarrassing really

For being so short, that was kind of a slog. I started rockin' out a couple of times but for the most part was just waiting for it to be over. Couldn't understand a word.

There's no getting around it - this is awful. But I decided to read the lyrics while I was listening, just so that I could claim to be looking at this thing objectively. Turns out the lyrics are surprisingly poetic in a nihilistic sort of way. Would never listen again of course, but the lyrics bring it up a point even if they are completely incomprehensible while the singer is "singing".

Me: “Can we have some metal?” Mom: “We have metal at home.” Metal at home: Seriously though, shoutout to the singers for taking inspiration directly from the sound of me vomiting.

There's some of this that I really like but I can't stand vocals like this. Very torn between a 1 and a 2.

The album cover certainly has the courtesy to let you know exactly what you are in for. Which is, to me, too much. There are seeds in here of music I will enjoy, especially side one. But this particular album is just fast and angry and unintelligible. None of the songs stood out as individually interesting. If you can fully develop your idea in less than a minute maybe it isn't much of an idea? Although honestly You Suffer did have a certain charm.

3/10. Not even that bad at its worst, a bit generic but generally okay at its best. Its worst of course referring to whenever the guy started singing.

Did I enjoy it? No. But it was only 30 mins of my life I guess

It sounds like people who don't listen to metal think all metal sounds like. Drumming is very impressive, aswell overall technique by everyone other than vocalist (who is not extreme and or grotesque as much as everyone else). But overall it's not really my thing.

Nah

I had this dream that an army of dwarves wielding hammers and chainsaws were productively building away inside my brain, and it was not altogether unpleasant at first, but they continued, and continued and eventually I got used to them and hardly noticed them at all, but then some other thoughts ventured over to the armies of construction dwarves and they were like, "yo, we have to figure out how to get to the vet and orthodontist at the same time today" and the little dwarves just kept on hammering and sawing and finally I had to take away their tools and tell them that they weren't really accomplishing anything, but it was pretty impressive how fast and loud they could be.

Absolute noise

Not exactly my vibe. Don’t love being yelled at but the instrumentals were impressive.

Already aware of this album and while i'd love to enjoy such a seminal and heavy british album, the mix is just too ropey. The engineering sounds fine but the choice to mix everything in a cloud of chorus and reverb, and to have the guitar level so low, just makes it a struggle.

I like it when talented musicians go out of their way to create something new and difficult. But I'm never going to listen to that again.

Ok it’s way, way, way too much of the same thing, it gets outright tedious in its chaos, but there’s some chunky riffs in there and I’ll take this over bland dance music. I dare someone to tell me they understood the lyrics though.

inte så dålig som jag trodde

You'll hear: "Choo, choooot ayaya ayaya chooo chooo ayayyaya". But it means: "I've been deceived by my friends and this is where our friendship ends" GREAT, relevant, political lyrics, too bad you can't understand anything. The music has a lot of energy but gets somewhat boring after a while.

Grindcore really isn't my thing.

Feel like I could get into this one time. Weird that the everything sounds behind the drums.

Not as bad as the ratings would imply, it's just a politically-minded hardcore album and what you see is what you get. Heavier music and hardcore especially, much like coffee or beer, is an acquired taste that you have to step into – jumping into this album without much prep is like swigging a beer you stole from your dad's fridge at age 12. The production sinks this one to a two for me since the guitars are muddy as hell, but otherwise this completely tracks for a Reagan-era hardcore album.

It says something when I can listen to this longer than I can listen to an ambient music album. Having said that, I don’t really understand this type of music. Could not believe it was from so long ago also!

Nah, not for me. "You suffer" is decent, but too long, and most of the others sound similar (if less focussed). Still, at least it's not Nico or PSB, so they can have another 🌟 for being interesting - even if I genuinely never want to hear this album again!

This was a good album to listen to on the treadmill and that is the one and only time it will ever be played. Grindcore is in no way something I’d ever choose to listen to and I got no enjoyment from it, but I’d still rather listen to that than some of the new wave albums that have come across this list.

Not for me.

Not my thing. It does sound surprisingly modern for being from the 80s though.

Good thing I listened to the full dynamic range version or I wouldn't have been able to understand a word he said.

Better than I was expecting? Definitely not my cup of tea but I did find my head nodding along in time at a few points. Side A is definitely more my speed, feels like just very heavy punk rock/metal, whereas Side B leans more into the noise and deliberately low audio quality. I don't think, by any means, I'll be seeking out any more Napalm Death to listen to. But I think there was something these guys were trying to do and they achieved it, even if that thing isn't something I like.

4/10

Not really my thing.

I got some enjoyment from this in fleeting moments, mainly the occasional decent guitar riff or baseline. But is all a bit of a mess really. Even the guitar sound is annoyingly fuzzy and the drumming is frenetic to the point of losing any sense of rhythm or purpose. I much of it is borderline unlistenable - but I guess that’s the point

Points for consistency. I feel like they both created grindcore and brought it to its logical conclusion. This is so fucking annoying to listen to by the end.

The song "Scum" is the best thing on the album. The rest is difficult to enjoy. The music is good, the singing/screaming/barking is bad. I give it 2/5 for the music, 0/5 for the screaming. 2/5

Seriously impressive metal riffs and drum work but the vocals were insurmountable, in my opinion. Album would have been fun without lyrics but i found the muffled yelling and in later tracks screaming to be distracting and then punishing.

wow does that drummer like to use those cymbals.....singing hilarious

Grindcore en la seva expressió primigènia. Entenc que més que per les seves qualitats intrínsiques, l'"essencialitat" d''Scum' ve per la seva irrupció, en plena època de Whitneys Houstons, Madonnas i Geroge Michaels, amb el seu so atronador i la seva violència sense paliatius. Recordo la trascendencialitat de quan va sortir i la seva influència posterior... però mai m'ha semblat un disc per disfrutar de la seva escolta, sincerament

Not really a fan of the vocals, but some of the riffs are interesting. I also wish the songs were longer and a little more dynamic. I understand why this album is important, but it's not my cup of napalm.

Napalm Death ft. Randy from South Park on vocals This is the kind of music that if you tell people you like it they either think you're really smart or that you chew on bricks for living, no middle ground. +1 star for being from the West Midlands

Hard to listen to. Extremely influential. Some parts I quite like, but overall... meh. Don't even like death metal that much.

SCUM! not nearly as bad as i expected.

Grindcore? Nah.

Uma mistura de "putz, não tenho trocado hoje não" com "fala que nem gente porraaaa" Duas estrelas pela capa e alguns sonzinhos até que legais

Most songs, shortest total album time - is that what this album is on the list for?

Each song was a short angry carcophany. The guitar work and drums were good but honestly had no idea what the vocals were saying. I would have scored it higher if there was more variety in the songs but honestly by the end I could barely tell one song from another

Seeing that there were 28 tracks in 33 minutes I knew I was in for something different, and that it definitely was

has merit, but it didnt sit right with me today.

Not nearly as horrible as expected, given the fact that it's one of the ten lowest rated records. That being said, I mostly enjoyed the instrumentals. Sometimes they were too gritty, but that's nothing compared to the vocals.

Like the instrumentals, but the grindcore vocal style just isn't for me.

Rather silly, didn't do anything for me

No thanks... not for me