Napalm Death & Melvins Bring Their Savage Imperial Death March To Houston!

Napalm Death & Melvins co-headlined a show at White Oak Music Hall in Houston, Tx on April 19th, 2025 with support from Dark Sky Burial on their Savage Imperial Death March Part II!

Napalm Death are an English grindcore band originating from Meriden, West Midlands and was formed in 1981. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist Mark “Barney” Greenway, guitarist/backing vocalist Mitch Harris, guitarist John Cooke, bassist/backing vocalist Shane Embury, and drummer/percussionist Danny Herrera.

The godfathers of grindcore, NAPALM DEATH, are storming through the U.S. this spring as they reignite the “Savage Imperial Death March”alongside sludge-metal legends The Melvins! They stopped at White Oak Music Hall for a night of unrelenting speed, chaos, and sonic devastation.

For over four decades, NAPALM DEATH have remained one of the most influential and uncompromising forces in extreme music, pioneering a genre-defying sound that blends grindcore, crust punk, and death metal into a politically charged whirlwind of aggression. Their music is a masterclass in speed, featuring blistering blast beats, down-tuned guitars, and guttural vocals that have set the standard for extreme music worldwide. Even after nearly 40 years, no one sounds like NAPALM DEATH—and no one delivers a more intense live experience.

First teaming up in 2016, NAPALM DEATH and The Melvins proved to be a perfect sonic storm, bringing together two of the most fearless, boundary-pushing bands in heavy music. Now, 2025 marks the next chapter of this legendary tour, with The Melvins adding their unpredictable fusion of punk and metal to the bill.

Greenway commanded the stage with intensity the entire time as he rapidly paced around screaming his politically charged lyrics. He made it a known fact that he wasn’t a fan of our 47th president, which came as no surprise. With as much emotion Greenway expressed his disdain for religion as well leading into one of my favorite tracks of theirs, “Suffer the Children.” This has been a staple for their live performances as they play it every night without fail.

Greenway speaking before”Suffer the Children”

“This next song we play every night without fail. Absolutely every night. In all my years on this Earth I’ve found both religion and religious faith to be entirely fucking worthless. Absolutely fucking worthless. For the peaceful and dignified world that I’m sure we all want. This ludicrous presupposition given the evidence so far that religion is somehow going to be a moral driving force towards that. Sounds to me like utter fucking horseshit to be honest with you. Horseshit of the highest fucking degree. So this one is for all you free thinkers out there. From an album called ‘Harmony Corruption’. It’s a little number titled ‘Suffer the Children’.”

Other notable highlights during the set were their performance of the relentless “Scum”, the absurdly short “You Suffer” (a song that is 1.3 seconds long holding the Guinness World record for the shortest song to be ever recorded), as well as Dead Kennedys’ cover “Nazi Punks Fuck Off”.

Punk ain’t no religions cult

Punk means thinking for yourself

Expect a night of sheer intensity. Expect a setlist spanning NAPALM DEATH’s entire career. Expect nothing less than total sonic annihilation.

Setlist:

MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS PART 2
SILENCE IS DEAFENING
LOWPOINT
VISION CONQUEST
CONTAGION
RESENTMENT ALWAYS SIMMERS
NARCOLEPTIC
WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE
AMORAL
RETREAT TO NOWHERE
SOCIAL STERILITY
DEAD
SUFFER THE CHILDREN
PRIDE ASSASSIN
NECESSARY EVIL
BACKLASH JUST BECAUSE
FUCK THE FACTOID
SCUM
PRISON WITHOUT WALLS
YOU SUFFER
NAZI PUNKS FUCK OFF
UNCHALLENGED HATE

Melvins are an American rock band originating from Montesano, Washington and was formed in 1983. Their current lineup consists of lead vocalist/guitarist Buzz Osborne, bassist/backing vocalist Stephen Shane McDonald, and drummer/percussionist/backing vocalist Dale Crover, drummer/backing vocalist Coady Willis.

Melvins are known for their unique and influential sound in the realm of extreme music. Their music features heavy distorted guitars and blends different styles such as sludge, doom, and punk. Their experimental approach and willingness to push boundaries has made them a highly recognized band.

Some highlights of their performance were the emotionally charged song “A History of Bad Men”, the extremely fast-paced song “Honey Bucket”, a face-off between the drummers during their drum solo performance, and the conclusion of their set using my personal favorite song of theirs, “Night Goat“.