Melvins & Napalm Death - Savage Imperial Death March

Two of heavy music's most stubborn institutions join forces on Savage Imperial Death March, a 2026 collaboration between sludge pioneers Melvins and grindcore originators Napalm Death.

Melvins have spent more than four decades twisting punk, metal and noise into lumbering new shapes since forming in Washington State, while Napalm Death helped invent grindcore in Birmingham, England. Both bands share a restless, anything-goes attitude and a long habit of collaborating, so the pairing makes more sense than it might first appear. The album arrives on Ipecac, a natural home for this kind of glorious racket.

Across eight tracks, the two camps throw slow, crushing sludge and bursts of grinding speed into the same pot. Titles like "Some Kind of Antichrist", "Awful Handwriting" and "Nine Days of Rain" carry the gallows humour both bands are known for, and closer "Death Hour" brings things to a suitably ominous end.

Expect thick, fuzzed-out riffs, pummelling drums and vocals that run from guttural roars to sneering barks, all delivered with real bluntness.

For fans of either camp, it is a rare chance to hear two veteran outfits push each other somewhere new. Neither band has ever cared much for rules, and it shows. Play it loud, then play it louder.