Napalm Death and the Melvins have been doing their thing for more than a combined 80 years. The pair of bands somehow remain as ear-splittingly thunderous as the day they surfaced back when Ronald Reagan was popping jelly beans at the White House. Given their shared love of heavy music — The Melvins as pillars of grunge and sludge metal; Napalm Death as progenitors of a doomsday brand of grindcore metal — it should come as no surprise that the duo is teaming up for “Savage Imperial Death March II,” a sequel of sorts to a co-headlining tour they did together in 2016.
Longtime Napalm Death singer Barney Greenway and Melvins’ founder and frontman Buzz Osborne addressed the tour and each band’s longevity in a recent joint interview with Consequence: “Napalm is so cacophonous, it’s so noisy,” Greenway said. “Yet, it stood the test of nearly four decades now. People still support the band. It could be the other way. It could be like, ‘Enough of that, already!’ And there would be no basis for us to go out and do extensive tours. So, I’m thankful. I don’t take it for granted, that’s for sure.”
Osborne agreed: “I’ve never taken it for granted. I’ve always felt blessed. I put as much effort into this, if not more, than anyone would for any kind of career, whether it’s doctors or lawyers. I’ve sacrificed a lot of my life because I’m so interested in making this work.”
Even more intriguing this time around is the recent corresponding release of a six-song EP entitled Savage Imperial Death March that finds the two bands collaborating on songwriting and performance. The amusingly titled opening track, “Tossing Coins into the Fountain of Fuck,” features Greenway’s patented guttural bellows as Osborne and Napalm’s John Cooke emit momentous counterpoint riffs from their guitars, each playing off the other as naturally as peanut butter and jelly. “Some Kind of Antichrist” finds Osborne on lead vocals, his higher-pitched wails complemented by Greenway’s lower-register roars. The song’s vigorous riffage, which scans more Melvins than Napalm, eventually devolves into ambient weirdness, the perfect finale to an unholy alliance.
Napalm Death and Melvins play Bogart’s on May 15 at 7 p.m. More info: bogarts.com.
This story is featured in CityBeat’s April 30 print edition.
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This article appears in Apr 30 – May 13, 2025.