Napalm Death/Brujeria/ Power Trip/ Lock Up at Electric Ballroom - live review

Early doors on a weekday don’t stop LOCK UP [7] wooing a sold-out crowd as newish recruit Kevin Sharp screams through 30 minutes of supercharged grind. POWER TRIP [8], meanwhile, rip into Nightmare Logic material at eye-gouging pace. There’s no room for breath; these Texans come without frills, their sheer sweat and speed competing with thrash metal’s heritage acts. BRUJERIA’s [7] sloppy, shitfaced blunder can’t compete, but it’s fun nonetheless. Viva Presidente Trump! receives a lovely “Fuck Donald Trump!” response, and it’s a thrillingly unnerving sight to see the two vocalists swing machetes around. Having played in all of tonight’s bands bar Power Trip, NAPALM DEATH’s [9] bassist extraordinaire Shane Embury pummels though one final set – a display of grindcore perfected. Barney Greenway’s spasmodic bull-charging between – and during – vocal grunts is always appreciated, but it’s given new urgency during the Apex Predator – Easy Meat cuts. That record is a modern classic and the songs are treated as such, even in a set containing Twist The Knife (Slowly) and four Scum tracks. A high point is unquantifiable, but Barney’s condemnation of the far-right and a rousing, venue-wide rendition of Nazi Punks Fuck Off is up there. Scum arrived 30 years ago but Napalm Death are as vital as ever.