Hatred Surge

Hatred Surge was the 5th demo tape by the group Napalm Death.

The demo was released in 1985 by the group who sold copies of the demo on cassette at their concerts. The tape was also traded and copied extensively on the 'underground' tape-trading scene across the globe: it has since been released in bootleg form on CD and 7" vinyl. The tape was originally issued with a live mixing board recording (from a concert at The Mermaid venue in Birmingham, England) as the B-Side.

The sound of the demo represents a precursor to the work for which the group became well-known globally at a later date. The sound combines the energy and imprecise edge of Punk-influenced hardcore (as played by groups such as Discharge, Disorder, Chaos UK, Rattus, Kaaos and The Wretched) with the slower chord-progressions of mid-1980s Heavy metal / Thrash metal (as played by groups such as Venom, Hellhammer, Metallica, Voivod and Bathory), along with an influence from Post-punk music (particularly Killing Joke, Amebix, Swans and Crass).

The material on the demo tape has a varied history. The pieces 'What Man Can Do' and 'Private Death' originally appeared on the 1st demo tape (1982) by Justin Broadrick's group Final, although they were re-worked for this recording. The pieces 'Caught...in a Dream' and 'The Ballad of Cheswick Green' had originally appeared on the 4th demo tape (1983) by an earlier incarnation of Napalm Death, and were again re-worked for this recording. A number of the songs from the demo tape ('Instinct of Survival', 'Control' and 'Sacrificed') continued to be played by the group until the recording of their first album 'Scum'.