Live Review: Napalm Death and Melvins Take the Stage in Chicago

By Colette Custin

Billed as the Savage Imperial Death March II tour, one of the heaviest shows of the spring hit the Metro on Monday night as legendary death/grindcore act Napalm Death delivered twenty- two blistering songs in just an hour’s time to a packed house.

“We are from the utopian paradise of Birmingham,” noted vocalist Barney Greenway early in the set. “And I’m sure your President would love to get his hands on us just like Greenland.” The ill-effects of politics and religion were on full display as the quartet tore through savage versions of “Suffer the Children,” “Amoral,” “Resentment Always Simmers,” and even “Scum” from the band’s 1987 debut album of the same name. Closing out with a savage version of the Dead Kennedys’ “Nazi Punks Fuck Off,” Napalm Death were a much-needed blast of cathartic rage given the current political climate, and this tour couldn’t have come at a better time.

The Melvins delivered a high-energy set of their own brand of sludgy, crunchy rock tunes, with guitarist/vocalist Buzz Osborne and bassist Steven Shane McDonald thrashing about the stage like they were a new band on the scene and not decades into a storied career, while twin drummers Dale Crover and Coady Willis gave the lineup its percussive heft.