Blimey, that was a quick 20 years. It seems just the other day that people were laughing at Napalm Death for their silly name, onesecond songs (You Suffer is still the shortest single ever released), warp-speed blastbeats and superearnest studenty politics (a mixture of militant veganism, antiauthoritarian slogans and Young Ones haircuts).
In retrospect, it’s obvious how important Scum was to the late 80s extreme metal scene, as well as to politically-focused bands such as Rage Against The Machine. It’s an album full of landmarks: the first serious UK attempt to rival the brutality and speed of Florida death metal; Earache’s first classic release; the first time that hardcore punk values were combined with truly metallic fury.
This DualDisc version adds a DVD documentary to Scum’s 28 blistering tracks, without trying to brush up the original murky audio. The production values were so intentionally low that any remastering would have been pointless blasphemy, leaving the video footage the reason to buy. The makers have pulled in some interesting talking heads (Turner Prize winner Mark Titchner among them) who do their best to explain the slow-burning impact of this most uneasy-listening of records. Kudos to band and label for giving Scum the treatment it deserves.
