Napalm Death Announce New Album ‘Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism’ [Update]

Update: The band has just issued a lyric video for the new song "Backlash Just Because." Watch it toward the bottom of this post.

Napalm Death have just announced their 16th studio album, Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism. The latest record from grindcore’s most legendary band will come out via Century Media Records on Sept. 18.

The wait for Napalm Death’s 2020 record has been the longest of their career, with five years having passed since Apex Predator — Easy Meat was unleashed. Throes of Joy looks to be Napalm Death’s first album without guitarist Mitch Harris since From Enslavement to Obliteration was released in 1988, as a new promo photo of the band does not include Harris.

“The phrase [began] sticking in my mind when I started thinking about the lyrical direction for this album was ‘the other.’ You could recognize at the time that there was a rapidly growing fear and paranoia being generated about everybody, from migrating people to people with fluid sexuality and this was starting to manifest itself in very antagonistic reactions that you felt were almost verging on violence,” vocalist Barney Greenway says about the album’s title.

"Not everybody resorts to such reactions of course, but even the basic lack of understanding can become toxic over time. I’m not saying that this is an entirely new phenomenon, but it has been stoked in recent history by some particularly attack-minded people in more political circles and, as ever, I felt that it would be the natural antidote to endorse basic humanity and solidarity with all.”

“The artwork specifically uses a white dove as a centerpiece, which of course is a commonly recognized symbol of peace and cooperation. The dove has been mauled very violently by a sterilizing hand and in death appears particularly broken and bloodied. However, through the violence you can see an equality symbol in blood on the chest of the dove, which perhaps demonstrates – visually at least – that equality cuts through in the end. A positive amidst many negatives then, much like the album title itself being a bit of an oxymoron – the celebration of humanity even in the mangling jaws of negativity.”

Check out the track listing for Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism below and keep an eye out for Napalm Death’s first single from the album coming soon.

Napalm Death, "Backlash Just Because"

Napalm Death, Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism Track Listing + Artwork:

1. F**k the Factoid
2. Backlash Just Because
3. That Curse of Being in Thrall
4. Contagion
5. Joie De Ne Pas Vivre
6. Invigorating Clutch
7. Zero Gravitas Chamber
8. Fluxing of the Muscle
9. Amoral
10. Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism
11. Acting in Gouged Faith
12. A Bellyful of Salt and Spleen

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