Napalm Death are an English grindcore band, founded by Nic Bullen (vocals, bass) and Miles Ratledge (drums) in May 1981 when the two were 12/13 years old.[1] The band currently consists of bassist Shane Embury (since 1987), lead vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway, guitarist Mitch Harris (both since 1989), drummer Danny Herrera (since 1991).
Bullen and Ratledge founded the band as an extension of their Fanzine writing, the two were joined by Daryl "Dez" Fedeski on guitars in August 1981, and Graham Robertson on bass in January 1982. Fedeski who departed that October, Robertson moved to guitar, and Finbar Quinn joined on bass and backing vocals.[2] The band entered a hiatus in late 1983, playing one concert in 1984, at which they were joined by Marian Williams on backing vocals.
In July 1985 the band consisted of Ratledge on drums; Bullen - performing vocals, bass and guitar; Robertson on guitar and bass, and Damien Errington on guitar. This line up was short lived when Bullen and Ratledge reverted the band to a trio with Justin Broadrick on guitar and vocals.[3] The trio played their first concert on 31 August 1985, they were joined by Peter Shaw on bass in September who recorded the Demo Hatred Surge with the band.
The band split with Miles Ratledge soon after, with Bullen and Broadrick being joined by local fan Mick Harris. The trio first performed in December 1985 and recorded half an LP in August 1986, originally planned to be split with Atavistic but would later be the A side to their debut, Scum. After recording the band were joined by Jim Whitely on bass. This four piece played a few concerts before Broadrick left, Frank Healy joined as his temporary replacement.[4] Sole remaining founding member, Bullen left in December 1986.
The band found full time replacements in Bill Steer on guitar and Lee Dorrian on vocals. This line-up recorded the B side to Scum, which was released in July 1987. During promotion for Scum, Whitely departed, he was replaced by Shane Embury, a friend of Harris and Bullen. This line-up recorded From Enslavement to Obliteration (1988) before Steer and Dorian departed after a Japanese tour in July 1989. Harris and Embury recruited Jesse Pintado (ex-Terrorizer) on guitar and Mark "Barney" Greenway (ex-Benediction) as vocalist. Mitch Harris (ex-Righteous Pigs) joined as second guitarist after the tour.
Mick Harris departed after releasing Harmony Corruption (1990) in 1991. His replacement was Danny Herrera.
The next line-up change was Greenway's departure in 1996,[5] he was replaced by Phil Vane, of Extreme Noise Terror, a band with Greenway joined after his departure. Vane remained with the band for a few months before being expelled due it not working out.[6] Greenway then returned to record vocals for Inside the Torn Apart (1997), Vane subsequently re-joined Extreme Noise Terror.
Jesse Pintado departed by April 2005, having not played on their past two studio albums.[7] He was not replaced and the band reverted to one guitarist. Mitch Harris went on indefinite touring hiatus in 2014,[8] his touring replacement has been John Cooke who had previously acted as road manager, driver, as well as substitute vocalist and bassist in 2010[9] [10] and 2012 respectively. Other substitutes included Brutal Truth guitarist Erik Burke.
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shane Embury | 1987–present | all releases from From Enslavement to Obliteration (1988) onwards | |||
| Mark "Barney" Greenway | lead vocals | all releases from Harmony Corruption (1990) onwards | |||
| Mitch Harris | 1989–present | ||||
| Danny Herrera | 1991–present | drums | all releases from Utopia Banished (1992) onwards |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas "Nik Napalm" Bullen | 1981–1987 | Scum (1987) A side and all demos | |||
| Miles "Rat" Ratledge | 1981–1985 | drums | all demos from "Halloween" (1982) to "Hatred Surge" (1985) | ||
| Daryl "Daz F" Fedeski | 1981–1982 | guitars | |||
| Graham "Robbo" Robertson | 1982–1985 | ||||
| Finbar "Fin" Quinn | 1983–1984 | ||||
| Marian Williams | 1984 | vocals | none | ||
| Damien Errington | 1985 | guitars | |||
| Justin Broadrick | 1985–1986 | ||||
| 1985–1991 | all releases from "From Enslavement to Obliteration" demo (1986) to Death by Manipulation (1991) | ||||
| Peter "P-Nut" Shaw | 1985 | bass | "Hatred Surge" (1985) | ||
| Jim Whitely | 1986–1987 | ||||
| Frank Healy | 1987 | guitars | none | ||
| 1987–1989 | |||||
| Lee Dorrian | lead vocals | ||||
| Jesse Pintado | 1989–2004 | guitars | all releases from Harmony Corruption (1990) to The DVD (2001) | ||
| Phil Vane | 1996–1997 | lead vocals | none |
| Image | Name | Years active | Instruments | Release contributions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooke was road manager and driver for the band. When Greenway fell ill at one show in 2010, Cooke stepped on stage and sang 5 or 6 songs, he played bass when Embury fell ill in 2012.[11] [12] Cooke has been the bands primary touring guitarist since Mitch Harris' touring hiatus. | ||||
| Erik Burke | 2015 | guitars | Burke played guitar in place of Harris on a North American tour in 2015.[13] | |
| Vernon Blake | bass | Blake replaced Embury on two occasions, first in 2015 and again in 2019[14] and 2020. | ||
| Jesper Liveröd | 2017 | Liverod played bass in place of Embury in 2017. |
| Period | Members | Releases | |
|---|---|---|---|
| May – August 1981 |
| none | |
| August 1981 – January 1982 |
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| January – October 1982 |
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| October 1982 – early 1983 |
| none | |
| early – late 1983 |
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| 1984 |
| one show | |
| May – August 1985 |
| none | |
| August – September 1985 |
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| September – December 1985 |
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| December 1985 – late 1986 |
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| late 1986 |
| none | |
| late 1986 – early 1987 |
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| early – August 1987 |
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| August 1987 – July 1989 |
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| August – late 1989 |
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| late 1989 – early 1991 |
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| early 1991 – mid 1996 |
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| mid 1996 – early 1997 |
| sessions only | |
| early 1997 – early 2004 |
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| early 2004 – present |
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