Napalm Death & Wormrot
17th September 2023
Galatos, Auckland, New Zealand.
Review by Sarah Kidd. Photography by Mark Derricutt.
What could be sweeter than an international headliner on a Sunday night? The answer is simple, a double international headliner on a Sunday night!
Announcing their ‘Campaign for Musical Destruction’ tour back in May, Napalm Death doubled down on the already welcomed news by declaring that they would be supported by Wormrot, a grindcore trio from Singapore that are insanely phenomenal live.
Arriving on stage and coming eye to eye with a sea of black clad fans, Wormrot wasted no time as they delivered opener ‘All Will Wither’ from their latest album Hiss.
Formed in 2007, Wormrot have slowly been gathering a legion of dedicated fans across the world thanks to their live performances that are utterly unrelenting in their sheer power. With four studio albums and several EP’s/Splits under their belt, they certainly had a wide range of material to pull from.
Sadly, their previous lead vocalist Arif, who had been with Wormrot since inception, announced his departure just before Hiss was released back in June last year. The departure came as a serious blow to Wormrot as they also lost Arif’s wife Azean who had managed them.
Still auditioning for a permanent new lead vocalist, the position is currently being filled by Gabriel Dubko of Implore, a German grindcore band who if you haven’t heard of you should certainly get to know. Unfortunately, for many of the audience tonight, watching Dubko is the closest that they will get to seeing Implore live, as the four piece announced their split and farewell European Tour last month after over a decade together.
Standing in for Arif, Dubko did an outstanding job; keeping to the side of the stage for most of the evening, long hair framing his heavily inked frame, he delivered the vocals from a cavern deep within himself, pausing between tracks every so often to grin at the audience, or dangle his mic from its cord like a hangman’s noose, motioning for another pit to be formed at his feet.
Of course, it would be an absolute fallacy not to declare that despite the overall killer performance that Wormrot delivered it was drummer Vijesh that everybody had their eyes on. Front and centre, the man was totally unstoppable. Having joined Wormrot in 2015 after completing his compulsory military service, Vijesh has quickly become known for his indefatigable performances that leave jaws on the ground, his blast beats and windmill arms mind-blowing to watch.
Track after track pummelled the audience face first, the pit down front of flailing limbs and hair relishing every moment of it. After one particularly merciless onslaught, guitarist Rasyid giving it his all, a patron from the very back declared wholeheartedly “that was really fucking nice, thank you very much” bringing a smile to the trio.
‘Blockhead Fuck Off’ was definitely a highlight of the set along with one of Vijesh’s skull crushing drum solos that was followed by a loudly declared “Woo!”. A statement of thanks and a call from Dubko for those down in front to give it their all while simultaneously looking out for each other just highlighting that it truly is about solidarity in the music and the message and no bullshit about egos and gatekeeping.
Closing out their set with thanks, fans valiantly tried to convince Wormrot to give them one more song, the boys smiling and nodding but making it clear that they were done. There were certainly no complaints from anyone though as they delivered a set that will certainly be filed away under ‘favourites’ in the memory bank.
Napalm Death are certainly no newcomers to the scene, formed in 1981, the boys from West Midlands England have gifted the world sixteen studio albums, their most recent ‘Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism’ cited by many as one of their best.
Lead by the charismatic Mark ‘Barney’ Greenway, Napalm Death are political activists as much as they are grindcore musicians, and that has been much of their appeal over the years. It shows in their audiences too, looking around there is an absolutely mixed bag of patrons both young and old, Napalm Deaths messages throughout their discography something that resonates with many.
Sporting that unmistakable short haircut, Greenway was on the go from the start, ‘Narcissus’ from their EP ‘Resentment is Always Seismic – A Final Throw of Throes’ seeing him storm the stage and pace in circles, the audience relishing every moment as his imposingly tall figure loomed over them.
Joined by Shane Embury on bass and John Cooke on guitar, Danny Herrera of course holding down the kit, Napalm Death were in fine form despite having played the last two consecutive nights. While always a joy to watch as a whole, it is hard not to focus on Barney (as he is affectionately known), who shows absolutely no signs of ever slowing down in any shape or form. Vocals still on point in their brutality, Barneys growls continue to sound like they are emanating from the very bowels of the underworld itself, Auckland fans lapping up every moment of the show from start to finish.
Often when groups have a history as illustrious as Napalm Death does, they lean on sets comprised of ‘highlights’ to get them through and keep crowds happy. But not Napalm Death, last nights set alone containing several tracks from their last studio album, all of which were welcomed with open arms.
Barney still has that sense of English humour too, pausing momentarily near the beginning of the set for some banter of how they may be British, but they are still “rude fuckers” who are an “unapologetic noise band”. His following words however a little more serious as he spoke of how no human being is illegal and how no one person or small group of people should ever get to dictate as to who is or who isn’t. “Everyone is welcome, all refugees are welcome” Barney declared, eliciting rounds of applause from all those present; ‘Contagion’ finishing the point off nicely.
‘Invigorating Clutch’, one of the longer tracks from the same album was noted by Barney as also one of their slower numbers, but the strength contained within it is still just as mouthwatering; live it was even better, Cooke on guitar driving home the killer riffs. ‘Scum’ from their debut album released a mere thirty-six years ago, had everyone throughout the room moving, ‘Amoral’ once again from their latest release emphatically proving to one and all that Napalm Death still have something to say.
And this is important in the longevity of an act like this, a longevity that continues to draw fans to their shows. Barney still sounds angry, the whole band does, like they would still kick in doors and pin people to walls if they believed some injustice was being committed.
Their music, their sound, their words are not about making music just for the sake of it or to bring another pay check in. It is about aggression against the system that sees many as disposable, about governments that make ludicrous decisions while making themselves richer, about general society’s vapid values.
Speaking of how last year governments had the audacity to try and control women’s bodies and tell them what they could and could not do with them, Barney spoke of how this year’s target is the trans community.
“The very notion of trying to erase people just trying to live by their own genetic code is ridiculous” he announced with venom, “Those who believe that the world would be a better place without trans people can go fuck themselves; and religious peeps can mathematically go fuck themselves several times”.
His speech elicited raucous agreement from the crowd, those cheers soon turning into ones of euphoria as ‘Suffer the Children’ was thrown down. Barney is right though, across the world attacks on the trans community are being seen everywhere, including – most concerningly – within our own political parties here in Aotearoa.
‘The Infiltrator’ soon followed, a surprise bonus for many fans, before ‘Smash a Single Digit’ destroyed the room, Barney’s vehemence in delivery proving just why he is still in the game.
Of course, there were a couple of cover songs, Napalm’s version of the Bad Brains track ‘Don’t Need It’ certainly welcomed, but it was easily overshadowed by their insanely remorseless rendition of the Dead Kennedys ‘Nazi Punks Fuck Off’.
Finishing with ‘Siege of Power’ which allowed both Napalm and audience to let everything loose one last time, it almost seemed like time stopped momentarily as the house lights went up and the crowd blinked as if to double check that what just went down was really over.
Sure, last night was a double header that left everyone feeling brutalised in the best way possible – but more importantly it was a timely reminder to one and all. There are agendas that our politicians and governments are trying to force feed us, there are agendas whose basic purpose is to devalue and dehumanize those around us. These agendas need to be shut down immediately, and our politicians told in no uncertain terms that we will not accept this form of hate speech within our own communities.
For if we do not speak out now, our silence will forever be seen as acceptance.
Napalm Death:
Wormrot:
Knifed:
Were you there at Galatos for this delightful grindcore metal gig? Or have you seen Napalm Death or Wormrot perform live somewhere else before? Tell us about it in the comments below!
Napalm Death Setlist:
- Narcissus
- Backlash Just Because
- Fuck the Factoid
- Contagion
- Lucid Fairytale
- Everyday Pox
- Invigorating Clutch
- Unchallenged Hate
- Scum
- Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism
- Amoral
- The Kill
- Suffer the Children
- Mass Appeal Madness
- Don’t Need It [Bad Brains cover]
- Breed to Breathe
- The Infiltrator
- You Suffer
- Smash a Single Digit
- Deceiver
- Dead
- Nazi Punks Fuck Off [Dead Kennedys cover]
- Siege of Power
Note: Ambient Light was provided passes to review and photograph this concert. As always, this has not influenced the review in any way and the opinions expressed are those of Ambient Light’s only. This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase a product using an affiliate link, Ambient Light will automatically receive a small commission at no cost to you.
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