Napalm Death performed a Tiny Desk Concert at NPR's offices, where a swirl of black t-shirts and battle jackets opened a small circle pit just feet from staffers. The founding fathers of grindcore played material spanning more than 40 years, bookending the set with defining 1987 tracks described as a Scum sandwich. The band moved rapidly through its catalog, including the dissonant death metal of "Everyday Pox" and the heaving post-punk of "Amoral," a song written by longtime bassist Shane Embury, who did not join the group for this U.S. tour. NPR frames the performance as part of Napalm Death's decades-long campaign for musical destruction that pairs extreme noise with advocacy for human dignity. The set closes with "You Suffer," whose one-second blast the piece frames as both a wink and a challenge, asking in effect why we spend time in hopelessness. Video of the Tiny Desk performance is circulating from NPR's coverage of the session.
