From Enslavement to Obliteration

2025-09-01T00:46:56Z

126.249.166.69: "From Enslavement..." is not a song about racism. Changed designation.

{{Short description|Album by Napalm Death}}
{{EngvarB|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox album
| name = From Enslavement to Obliteration
| type = studio
| artist = [[Napalm Death]]
| cover = From Enslavement to Obliteration.jpg
| alt =
| released = 16 September 1988
| recorded = July 1988
| studio = Birdsong, [[Worcester, England|Worcester]], England
| genre = [[Grindcore]]
| length = 29:20
| label = [[Earache Records|Earache]]
| producer = Napalm Death and [[Digby Pearson|Dig]]
| prev_title = [[Scum (Napalm Death album)|Scum]]
| prev_year = 1987
| next_title = [[Mentally Murdered]]
| next_year = 1989
}}

'''''From Enslavement to Obliteration''''' is the second studio album by English [[grindcore]] band [[Napalm Death]], released in 1988. It is the final studio album with vocalist [[Lee Dorrian]] and guitarist [[Bill Steer]], and the first to feature bassist [[Shane Embury]], the band's longest-tenured member to date. A remastered version was released on 2 April 2012. ''[[Loudwire]]'' put it on the list of the 10 best metal albums of 1988.

==Background==

The album's lyrical themes cover a variety of social and political topics, including [[misogyny]]/[[sexism]] ("It's a M.A.N.S World" and "Inconceivable?"), [[animal rights]] ("Display to Me…"), [[racism]] ("Unchallenged Hate"), [[materialism]] ("Private Death"), and [[anti-capitalism]] ("From Enslavement to Obliteration" and "Make Way!"). The album calls for social change, as seen in the song "Uncertainty Blurs the Vision," quoting [[Rudimentary Peni]] at the song's conclusion.

Shane Embury retrospectively commented on the band's progression up until ''From Enslavement to Obliteration'' in ''[[Kerrang!]]'' magazine: {{blockquote|It was a good experience but it was a brief one. Back in those days albums were recorded very quickly – we recorded the album in about six days and I think it cost about £800. In the early days in the very beginning before I joined, it was more of a [[crust punk]] band really but it was a natural progression, I think, to get faster and faster. ''[[Scum (Napalm Death album)|Scum]]'' created a buzz and by the time we did ''FETO'', we just wanted to push it as far as we could and as fast as possible. We weren't really consciously trying to break any rules but we weren't paying any attention to them either. If we wanted to do a song that was going to be 20 seconds long then we'd do it – we didn't think there was any reason not to. The vocals for us went hand-in-hand with the distorted bass guitar, distorted guitars and hyper-fast drumming.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Albums: Treasure Chest – Shane Embury |magazine=[[Kerrang!]] |date=1 May 2010 |last=Travers |first=Paul |issue=1310 |page=54 }}</ref>}}

==Reception==
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="AllMusic">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/from-enslavement-to-obliteration-mw0000198438 |title=Napalm Death – From Enslavement to Obliteration review |last=Raggett |first=Ned |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=2019-09-10 }}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]]''
| rev2score = 8/10<ref name="classic" >{{cite magazine |title=Napalm Death – From Enslavement to Obliteration |magazine=[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]] |date=July 2012 |last=Delaney |first=Roy |issue=172 |page=106}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev3score = {{Rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Larkin|editor-first=Colin|editor-link=Colin Larkin|title=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|year=2007|publisher=[[Omnibus Press]]|edition=5th concise|isbn=978-0857125958|title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music |pages=1015-1016}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]]''
| rev4score = 8/10<ref>{{cite book|chapter=Napalm Death|first=Chris|last=Norris|title=Spin Alternative Record Guide|title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide|editor1-first=Eric|editor1-last=Weisbard|editor2-first=Craig|editor2-last=Marks|publisher=[[Vintage Books]]|year=1995|isbn=0-679-75574-8|pages=265–266}}</ref>
}}

In 2009 ''From Enslavement to Obliteration'' was ranked number 1 in ''[[Terrorizer Magazine|Terrorizer]]''{{'}}s list of essential European grindcore albums.<ref name=horsley>{{cite magazine |title=Essential Albums – Europe |magazine=[[Terrorizer (magazine)|Terrorizer]] |year=2009 |last=Horsley |first=Jonathan |issue=180 |page=54 }}</ref> Writer Jonathan Horsley described it as marking "the genre's perilous rite of passage through Britain's post-industrial urban landscape."<ref name=horsley/> ''[[Classic Rock (magazine)|Classic Rock]]'' reviewer remarked how the stable line-up brought "new maturity and coherence" and reminded that "for an all-too-brief moment in time, this album could lay claim to being the most extreme collection of songs ever recorded".<ref name="classic" />

In 2017, ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked ''From Enslavement to Obliteration'' as 59th on their list of "The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/the-100-greatest-metal-albums-of-all-time-113614/napalm-death-from-enslavement-to-obliteration-1988-194367/ |title=The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time |work=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=21 June 2017 |access-date=2019-09-10 }}</ref>

==Track listing==
Writing credits taken from [[American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers|ASCAP]].
{{track listing
| headline = Side one
| title1 = Evolved as One
| writer1 = Dorrian, Embury
| length1 = 3:13
| title2 = It's a M.A.N.S World!
| writer2 = Dorrian, Harris
| length2 = 0:54
| title3 = Lucid Fairytale
| writer3 = Dorrian, Embury
| length3 = 1:02
| title4 = Private Death
| writer4 = Embury, Harris
| length4 = 0:35
| title5 = Impressions
| writer5 = Dorrian, Embury
| length5 = 0:35
| title6 = Unchallenged Hate
| writer6 = Dorrian, Embury
| length6 = 2:07
| title7 = Uncertainty Blurs the Vision
| writer7 = Dorrian, Harris
| length7 = 0:40
| title8 = Cock-Rock Alienation
| writer8 = Dorrian, Harris
| length8 = 1:20
| title9 = Retreat to Nowhere
| writer9 = Dorrian, Harris
| length9 = 0:30
| title10 = Think for a Minute
| writer10 = Dorrian, Harris
| length10 = 1:42
| title11 = Display to Me…
| writer11 = Dorrian, Harris
| length11 = 2:43
}}
{{track listing
| headline = Side two
| title12 = From Enslavement to Obliteration
| writer12 = Dorrian, Harris
| length12 = 1:35
| title13 = Blind to the Truth
| writer13 = Dorrian, Embury
| length13 = 0:21
| title14 = Social Sterility
| writer14 = Dorrian, Harris
| length14 = 1:03
| title15 = Emotional Suffocation
| writer15 = Dorrian, Harris
| length15 = 1:06
| title16 = Practice What You Preach
| writer16 = Dorrian, Embury
| length16 = 1:23
| title17 = Inconceivable?
| writer17 = Dorrian, Harris
| length17 = 1:06
| title18 = Worlds Apart
| writer18 = Dorrian, Embury
| length18 = 1:24
| title19 = Obstinate Direction
| writer19 = Dorrian, Embury, Harris, Steer
| length19 = 1:01
| title20 = [[Mentally Murdered]]
| writer20 = Embury, Harris
| length20 = 2:13
| title21 = Sometimes
| writer21 = Dorrian, Embury
| length21 = 1:06
| title22 = Make Way!
| writer22 = Dorrian, Harris
| length22 = 1:36
}}

=== ''The Curse'' ===
{{Infobox album
| name = The Curse
| type = ep
| artist = [[Napalm Death]]
| cover = Napalm_TheCurse.gif
| alt =
| released = September 1988
| recorded =
| studio =
| genre = [[Grindcore]]
| length = 5:04
| label = [[Earache Records|Earache]] (7MOSH 8)
| producer =
| prev_title =
| prev_year =
| next_title =
| next_year =
}}

'''''The Curse''''' is a free [[7-inch]] extended play included in the initial copies of the ''From Enslavement to Obliteration'' [[LP album|LP]], which was released through [[Earache Records]] in September 1988.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.earache.com/catalog/mosh008.html|title=Napalm Death, ''From Enslavement to Obliteration''|publisher=[[Earache Records]]|access-date=19 January 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080920095023/http://www.earache.com/catalog/mosh008.html|archive-date=20 September 2008}}</ref>

The cover uses the famous photograph of [[Phan Thi Kim Phuc]] fleeing a napalm attack, taken by [[Nick Ut]].

==== Track listing ====
{{track listing
| headline = Side one
| title1 = The Curse
| writer1 = Dorrian, Harris
| length1 = 3:17
}}
{{track listing
| headline = Side two
| title1 = Musclehead
| writer1 = Dorrian, Embury
| length1 = 0:51
| title2 = Your Achievement?
| writer2 = Dorrian, Embury
| length2 = 0:06
| title3 = Dead
| writer3 = Dorrian, Embury
| length3 = 0:04
| title4 = Morbid Deceiver
| writer4 = Dorrian, Harris
| length4 = 0:45
}}

*The song "Morbid Deceiver" is a re-recording of the song "Deceiver", originally on the album ''[[Scum (Napalm Death album)|Scum]]''.

==Personnel==
;Napalm Death
*[[Lee Dorrian]] – lead vocals, lyrics
*[[Bill Steer]] – guitars
*[[Shane Embury]] – bass, lyrics for "Private Death," "Unchallenged Hate," and "Blind to the Truth"
*[[Mick Harris]] – drums, backing vocals

;Production
*Steve Bird – [[Audio engineering|engineering]]
*Mark Sikora – cover art
*Mike Marsh – [[Audio mastering|mastering]]

==Trivia==

Some LPs had a sticker with the following line printed on it: "We wanted to be the biggest rock band in the world and you don't do that sounding like Napalm Death" Joe Elliot ([[Def Leppard]])<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Napalm-Death-From-Enslavement-To-Obliteration/release/367357|title=Napalm Death – From Enslavement To Obliteration|publisher=Discogs}}</ref>

[[Grindcore]] band [[Sore Throat (grindcore band)|Sore Throat]] included a track called "From Off License to Obliteration" on their 101-track 1988 album ''Disgrace to the Corpse of Sid'', also released on [[Earache Records]].

==Charts==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! scope="col" | Chart (1988)
! scope="col" | Peak<br />position
|-
| [[UK Indie Chart]]<ref>{{cite book |first=Barry |last=Lazell | url=http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/n.htm |title=Indie Hits 1980-1989 |publisher=Cherry Red Books |date=1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606125743/http://www.cherryred.co.uk/books/indiehits/n.htm |archive-date=6 June 2011 |access-date=5 September 2014}}</ref>
| style="text-align:center;"|1
|}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Napalm Death}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Napalm Death albums]]
[[Category:1988 albums]]
[[Category:Earache Records albums]]

Vero - Wikipedia - User contributions [en]

From Enslavement to Obliteration