As regular readers will know; putting several well-renowned and well-respected musicians together is no sure sign of success. Given the calibre of personnel involved, you’d expect the results to constantly hit the jackpot, but often we’re served up a bunch of lemons. Therefore, when it was announced that American sludge legends The Melvins were hooking up with British grindcore agitators Napalm Death my excitement was tempered by a touch of wariness. However, my caution proved unfounded because the resulting album, Savage Imperial Death March takes the best from both bands and sets off a bunch of musical fireworks and evidences a bunch of musicians who co-exist in perfect harmony.

Savage Imperial Death March is not a split album, rather it’s a collaboration with members of each band picking up an equal share of the songwriting and as such this album has a sound that meets somewhere in the middle of each band. I’m sure if someone asked you to describe what an amalgamation of these two bands would sound like you’d find the task hard, yet when hearing opening track ‘Tossing Coins Into The Fountain Of Fuck’, it makes perfect sense. Imagine a heavier Melvins and a more restrained Napalm Death and you’d have something approaching the sound herein. It finds the two bands travelling in the direction of the other and then meeting in the middle; in short it is a 50/50 partnership and finds each band bringing out the best in the other. It is the kind of admixture that could only have come from these two groups; there’s a distinct lack of ego involved which makes all parties less precious and open to sharing, the result being evident in the monolithic ‘Some Kind Of Antichrist’ and the groove laden ‘Rip The God’. Fans of both bands will find a spiritual home in this album, as will anyone who likes heavy, experimental music. Case in point being ‘Stealing Horses’, no matter what your musical inclination preference, if you like your music hard and heavy, you can’t but help get swept up within its groove.

This album was originally released as a super limited edition CD on the band’s 2025 tour, but it now gets bolstered by an extra two tracks and a first pressing on vinyl, alongside digital and CD issues. It’s time for you to join the Savage Imperial Death March.

• Savage Imperial Death March is released via Ipecac Recordings on 10th April 2026.

Track List:

1. Tossing Coins Into The Fountain Of Fuck

2. Some Kind Of Antichrist

3. Awful Handwriting

4. Nine Days Of Rain

5. Rip The God

6. Stealing Horses

7. Comparison Is The Thief Of Joy

8. Death Hour