Editing Napalm Death (section)

===Early history (1981–1986)===

Napalm Death were formed in the village of [[Meriden, West Midlands|Meriden]] near [[Coventry]], in the United Kingdom, in May 1981 by [[Nicholas Bullen|Nic Bullen]] and Miles Ratledge while the duo were still in their early teenage years. The duo had been playing in amateur bands since 1980 as an extension of their fanzine writing, and went through a number of names (including "Civil Defence", "The Mess", "Evasion", "Undead Hatred" and "Sonic Noise") before choosing Napalm Death in mid 1981. The band were initially inspired by the early wave of punk bands, particularly the [[anarcho-punk]] movement (a subgenre of [[punk rock|punk]] music focused on [[anarchist]] politics), and associated groups such as [[Crass]].

The first stable line-up of the group consisted of Nicholas Bullen on bass and lead vocals, Simon Oppenheimer on guitars, and Miles Ratledge on drums, and lasted from December 1981 to January 1982. Graham Robertson joined on bass in January 1982. Simon Oppenheimer left the group in August 1982 and was replaced by Darryl Fedeski who left the group in October 1982: at this point, Graham Robertson began to play guitar and Finbarr Quinn (ex-Curfew) joined on bass and backing vocals.
The group played concerts throughout 1982 (playing their first concert on 25 July 1982 at Atherstone Miners Club) and 1983 (sharing billing with anarcho-punk groups such as [[Amebix]], [[The Apostles (band)|The Apostles]] and [[Antisect]]), and made four demo recordings in 1982 and 1983, one of which contributed their first released recording to the ''[[Bullshit Detector]] Volume 3'' compilation released by [[Crass Records]] in 1984.
[[File:Napalm HatredSurge.jpg|thumb|right|Cover for the ''Hatred Surge'' demo recording from 1985; from left-right: Justin Broadrick, Nicholas Bullen, Mick Harris]]
The band entered a period of hiatus from the end of 1983 onwards, playing only one concert in 1984 (a benefit for striking mine workers) with additional vocalist Marian Williams (ex-Relevant POS, and sister of the drummer of the group Human Cabbages from Coventry, UK).  During this period, Nic Bullen met [[Justin Broadrick]], a guitarist from Birmingham with whom he shared an interest in the music of bands such as [[Killing Joke]], [[Throbbing Gristle]], Crass, Amebix, [[Swans (band)|Swans]], and the developing [[Power electronics (music)|power electronics]] scene. Bullen joined Broadrick's [[Final (band)|Final]] project for a period in 1983.

In July 1985, Napalm Death briefly reformed in order to appear at a concert at the Mermaid in Birmingham which was also notable as the last concert by Final. The group consisted of a four-piece line-up of Miles Ratledge on drums; Bullen - performing vocals, bass and guitar; Graham Robertson on guitar and bass, and Damien Errington on guitar. After this concert, Miles Ratledge and Bullen asked Broadrick to join Napalm Death as guitarist, with Bullen as vocalist and bass player. The band began to develop a musical style which blended elements of [[post-punk]] (particularly Killing Joke and Amebix), heavy hardcore punk in the vein of [[Discharge (band)|Discharge]], and [[thrash metal]] (with particular reference to [[Possessed (band)|Possessed]] and extreme metal group [[Celtic Frost]]).

The group played their first concert as a trio on 31 August 1985 (playing two concerts on the same day: Telford with [[Chumbawamba]] and [[Blyth Power]], and Birmingham with [[We've Got a Fuzzbox and We're Gonna Use It]]), and began to play regularly in the Birmingham area (particularly at The Mermaid public house in the Sparkhill area of Birmingham) with a wide range of musicians including [[Icons of Filth]], [[Concrete Sox]], [[The Varukers]], Indecent Assault, Decadence Within, and [[The Groundhogs]].{{Citation needed|date=July 2008}}

In September 1985, Peter Shaw joined on bass. The four-piece line-up recorded ''Hatred Surge'' (the band's fifth demo recording) on 23 October 1985 which the band made available at their concerts and by mail. Following the recording of the demo, Bullen and Broadrick wished to extend their exploration of a more extreme musical style which created a split in the group with Ratledge: as a result, the group splintered and [[Mick Harris]] (a local fan) was asked to join as drummer in December 1985.

The trio – Bullen on vocals and bass, Broadrick on guitar and Harris on drums – made their first performance on 15 December 1985 and went on to play many concerts in 1986, predominantly in the Birmingham area, with musicians such as Amebix, Antisect, Chaos UK, Varukers, [[Disorder (band)|Disorder]] and Dirge. The group recorded a sixth demo, ''From Enslavement to Obliteration'', on 15 March 1986, which the group made available at their concerts and through mail, before making a seventh recording later that year, ''[[Scum (Napalm Death album)|Scum]]'', which was provisionally intended to form part of a split LP with the English hardcore band Atavistic on Manic Ears Records. This recording later became the first side of the band's debut album ''Scum'' in 1987.

[[File:Napalm Death - 2017215223133 2017-08-03 Wacken - Sven - 1D X MK II - 1438 - AK8I9104.jpg|thumb|Embury in 2017]]
The band then faced a number of line-up changes. Nic Bullen was becoming frustrated with the musical direction of the group, and began to lose interest as a whole: as a result, Jim Whiteley was asked to join as bass player. The band played a number of concerts as a four-piece before Justin Broadrick left the group to play drums for local band [[Head of David]]. The group attempted to find a new guitarist by asking [[Shane Embury]] (ex-Unseen Terror and a fan of the group) to join and giving a trial period to [[Frank Healy]] (ex-Annihilator, later of [[Cerebral Fix]] and [[Sacrilege (band)|Sacrilege]]).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-08-23 |title=Benediction - Interview mit Frank Healy zu "Killing Music" • metal.de |url=https://www.metal.de/interviews/benediction-interview-mit-frank-healy-zu-killing-music-36874/ |access-date=2024-05-11 |website=metal.de}}</ref> After Broadrick's departure, Nic Bullen's dissatisfaction with the musical direction of the group led him to leave the group in December 1986 (in order to focus on his studies in English Literature and Philosophy at university), leaving the group without any of its original members.