Tonight, Download plays host to a long-standing, much-loved anchor of British metal. And after Napalm Death, Iron Maiden are on. From the word go, it is an eruption of anger, joy, frustration and love, as a massive pit kicks off as soon as the Brum grindcore kings strike the first note.
There are two sides to Napalm Death. There's the "unrepentant, unapologetic fucking noise from Birmingham", and the loveability brought by frontman and grindcore labrador Barney Greenway. You can't hear a fucking word he's saying during the songs, so his between-song remarks about "people who think they have the power to say a human being is illegal", and declaration of "refugees welcome" offer a sense of having a brain amongst the mayhem.
Stuff from latest album Throes Of Joy In The Jaws Of Defeatism prove for the millionth time that this is a band constantly on the cutting edge of extreme musical creativity, while the traditional cover of Dead Kennedys' Nazi Punks Fuck Off with its hauntingly prescient reminder that 'In a real Fourth Reich you'll be the first to go' is a belligerent political full-stop. Devastating and delightful, in equal measure. (NR)