The Melvins & Napalm Death Form Hybrid Band for âSavage Imperial Death Marchâ (the album)
The Melvins and Napalm Death join forces for Savage Imperial Death March (April 10, Ipecac Recordings), a true collaboration â not a split, but a new album featuring members of both bands.
The album shares its name with the bandsâ Savage Imperial Death March tours from 2016 and 2025, but marks their first full-length studio collaboration under the moniker.
Yesterday, the first track from the album, âTossing Coins Into The Fountain Of Fuck,â premiered with Jose Mangin on SiriusXMâs Liquid Metal.
The album was recorded at the Melvinsâ Los Angeles studio, with Buzz Osborne (vocals/guitar) and Dale Crover (drums) joined by Napalm Deathâs Barney Greenway (vocals), Shane Embury (bass), and John Cooke (guitar).
âI have loved the Melvins forever and their outlook on music,â Embury explains. âA chance to make an album of eclectic musical madness with them was truly an honour and a whole lot of fun, which surely is the whole point! Letâs do another one soon.â
âNapalm Death are one of my favorite bands ever,â Osborne says. âIt was an absolute pleasure and a dream come true to do this collaboration with them. We wrote songs together. I would write a riff and we would learn it and record it right there. They wrote stuff and we would learn it immediately as well. It was truly a 50/50 partnership.â
âFunny how life turns out sometimes⊠collecting hard-to-find Melvins 7-inches on Bleecker Street in 1989 and then touring twice and doing an album with them within the following 35 years,â Greenway adds. âHad a great time with it all, and nice to work with fellow travellers in the Melvins who also couldnât care about pandering to âdemographics.â I felt myself almost babbling lyrically during the recording, and that alone made for very fun recording times.â
Savage Imperial Death March pre-orders are available now (https://themelvins.lnk.to/savage). The eight-song album will be released on CD, digitally, and across four limited-edition vinyl variants: Black As Your Soul, Indie Exclusive Obnoxious Orchid, Ipecac Exclusive Absurd Aqua, and Revolver Exclusive Neon Coral. An abbreviated version of the album was released during the bandâs 2025 tour as a hyper-limited vinyl/CD edition. This iteration features new Mackie Osborne-created artwork and two new tracks (âAwful Handwritingâ and âComparison Is The Thief Of Joyâ).
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