Less than two weeks after the realse of ‘Amoral‘ Napalm Death have dropped another single of their upcoming album. Titled ‘Bellyfull of Salt and Spleen‘, the track came out yesterday alongside a music video, and is the third single of the long anticipated sixteenth record Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism, due out on 18 September via Century Media.
Napalm Death are going all the way back to the 80s and 90s with a very destinctive doom influence behind their new song. Maintaining the industrial feel of recent release ‘Amoral‘, further amplified by the powerful music video, the UK grindcore/death metal veterans go even slower for the monotonous and almost hypnotic ‘Bellyfull of Salt and Spleen‘. Composition-wise, the track is the furthest Napalm Death have recently ventured outside of their well-know aggresive grindcore territories, whilst still hitting just as hard with the lyrical content and extremely low-tuned guitars.
The masterminds behind the short film are Sam Edwards and Khaled Lowe, with additional credits going to Robin Fuller for animations, Stuart White for cinematography, and Bonnie Baker for Illustrations. The video is a clever mixture of a grotesque animated story centered around refugees fleeing in a boat, alongside shots of frontman Barney Greenway’s intense singing and live footage of meat grinders and other machinery. Stylistically, the music clip also follows the monochrome finish of recent Napalm Death’s video for ‘Amoral’.
The production company behind the video of ‘Bellyfull of Salt and Spleen‘ is A-Side Films. The organisation has previously worked on iconic videos such as Don Broco’s ‘Half Man Half God‘, Bring Me The Horizon’s ‘Diamonds Aren’t Forever‘, Akercocke’s ‘One Chapter Ends for Another to Begin‘ and many other projects. Check out the showreel of their best works for 2019 below.
Lyrically, the contents perfectly fill in the atmosphere set by the gloomy sound and disturbing imagery. With simple repeating chants, Greenway recreates a menacing and macabre world of “eviscerating stares” and “iniquitous smut”. The frontman discusses the themes of the track and his singing style for Blabbermouth, stating that “the scope and gravity and density just demanded a vocal that was as baritone and anguished as I could push out of myself“.
Meanwhile, the band announced that their vinyl release of their upcoming album was delayed with one month due to manufacturing issues. At this point the official CD and digital release for Throes of Joy in Jaws of Defeatism remains set in two weeks time. The record is available to pre-order on Napalm Death’s official online store, alongside various merchandise.
We received the very frustrating news that the manufacturing plant we use for our vinyl releases experienced a malfunction while they were pressing the album. The vinyl release date for Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism has moved to Oct. 16. pic.twitter.com/CkSC4S1xa7 — Napalm Death (@officialND) September 3, 2020
