What happens when two of the most veteran acts in heavy rock music band together for an extensive tour? Though the Melvins and Napalm Death occupy different musical spheres, it somehow makes sense to pair them up for their Savage Imperial Death March tour as two hugely influential acts that have never compromised on their grassroots values. While the Melvins just released a new album called Thunderball, their relentless tour schedule isn’t always dictated by promoting new music. English grindcore legends Napalm Death also have little concern for promotion. Instead, the tour has featured each act bringing their signature brands of brutality to fans. As their co-headlining tour enters the final stretch with a jaunt across the American West, the bands hit Portland, Oregon’s Revolution Hall on Tuesday, June 3rd for a sold-out show.
If you talk to most fans of legendary sludge masters the Melvins, you will almost always hear about a time the band played an almost comically short set only to leave the audience wanting more. Such was the case this night when, after a snafu with the opening act (Shane Embury was out sick), the Melvins came on before eight and played little more than forty minutes. Despite the frustration, they certainly made good use of that limited time as they wailed through songs like “Working The Ditch,” “The Bloated Pope,” and “Evil War God.” With the addition of Coady Scott Willis giving them an entire second drum kit, the percussive power of the band surged past eleven in its ferocity. Buzz Osborne’s guitar and singing were as strong as ever on songs like the chugging sludge of “Blood Witch” and the grunge-punk intensity of “Honey Bucket,” which also saw Steven Shane McDonald laying down some of his thickest bass lines of the show. “Revolver” was also a standout with its soaring, anthemic thrash and brief but potent solos. Their final song, “Your Blessened” found Osborne blasting off into psychedelic fuzz land on his guitar, while Willis and Dale Crover provided a propulsive firestorm of drums to carry the wave of vibes. With the drummers taking much of the spotlight, it was fitting that the band closed their short set in a barrage of double drumming.
At first glance, Barney Greenway might strike you as a calm and easygoing British chap, but as soon as he starts singing, he becomes a force of nature. When Napalm Death hit the stage – with a fill-in for legendary bassist Shane Embury – the ever-youthful Greenway immediately unleashed a torrent of his one-of-a-kind sinister growling vocals on songs like “Multinational Corporations, Part II,” “Silence Is Deafening,” and “Lowpoint.” From that point on, the band careened through a sprawling setlist that touched on a healthy chunk of their numerous albums stretching all the way back to 1987’s Scum. They took a steamroller approach to bass, drums, and guitar as they blended elements of doom-laden sludge, frenetic thrash, and gutbucket punk into one sneering wall of raw aggression and power. “Narcoleptic” was a highlight in its sheer brutality, while “Amoral” felt more grungy and melodic. Donning his suspenders and looking spry as hell even at fifty-five, Greenway bounced back and forth across the stage while laying down one abrasively epic verse after another. In between songs, he gave the audience brief respites from the mosh pit as he railed against Trump, religion, and the general state of our fucked up world. John Cooke, often gripping his impressive dreadlocks almost like a guitar slide, shredded his way through a torrent of heavy riffage on songs like “Social Sterility,” “Suffer the Children,” and “Cold Forgiveness,” the latter of which was brooding and stretched out. All told, the tight four-piece never lost momentum as they charged through musical moments of intensity.
At this point, both the Melvins and Napalm Death can safely be classified as elder statesmen within their respective scenes. This is hardly a knock on their agility, as each band played sets loaded with youthful vigor and the kind of music that has maintained its heaviness and energy over the course of multiple decades. One can only hope this isn’t the last time they team up for a Savage Imperial Death March tour.
