Napalm Death "From Enslavement To Obliteration (1991 Reissue, Relativity Records)"

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. A remastered version was released on 2 April 2012. Loudwire put it on the list of the 10 best metal albums of 1988.

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" and "From Enslavement to Obliteration"), materialism ("Private Death"), and anti-capitalism ("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:

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 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".

In 2009 From Enslavement to Obliteration was ranked number 1 in Terrorizer's list of essential European grindcore albums. Writer Jonathan Horsley described it as marking "the genre's perilous rite of passage through Britain's post-industrial urban landscape." 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".

In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked From Enslavement to Obliteration as 59th on their list of 'The 100 Greatest Metal Albums of All Time.'

Tracklist:

1. Evolved as One 03:14   
2. It's a M.A.N.S. World! 00:54   
3. Lucid Fairytale 01:02   
4. Private Death 00:36   
5. Impressions 00:35   
6. Unchallenged Hate 02:08   
7. Uncertainty Blurs the Vision 00:41  
8. Cock-Rock Alienation 01:20   
9. Retreat to Nowhere 00:31  
10. Think for a Minute 01:43   
11. Display to Me... 02:44
12. From Enslavement to Obliteration 01:35  
13. Blind to the Truth 00:22   
14. Social Sterility 01:04
15. Emotional Suffocation 01:06  
16. Practice What You Preach 01:24   
17. Inconceivable? 01:07  
18. Worlds Apart 01:25   
19. Obstinate Direction 01:02
20. Mentally Murdered 02:14   
21. Sometimes 01:06   
22. Make Way! 01:37   
23. Musclehead 00:50  
24. Your Achievement? 00:06   
25. Dead 00:05  
26. Morbid Deceiver 00:45  

Time:    31:16  

Recording information:

Recorded and mixed at Birdsong, Worcester.

Mastered at The Exchange, London.

Produced by Napalm Death and Dig.