Napalm Death is a grindcore/ death metal band formed at Solihull School near Birmingham, England in 1982 by Miles Ratledge and Nicholas Bullen, originally under the name of Civil Defence. They are credited by many with having invented the grindcore genre though the band quit this style after their first two albums and became a death metal band. The band have no original members left. In fact, their history has been one of constant member rotation and by the first side of Scum, their debut album, the drummer, Mick Harris, was the only original member remaining.
Members of Napalm Death have moved on to form bands such as Carcass, Godflesh, Cathedral, and Scorn. Additionally band members have formed numerous side projects, including Painkiller, Brujeria, Lock Up, Meathook Seed and Jesu.
Napalm Death started in Birmingham, in the United Kingdom, in 1982, as a Punk rock band founded by high school student Nic Bullen, Miles Ratledge, Daryll Fideski and other friends they met at school. Originally, the name "Civil Defence" was used. In the beginning Napalm Death were more inspired by early punk bands, anarcho-punk and other underground acts such as Amebix and Crass. The band made a few demos and contributed their first studio recording to the Bullshit Detector Volume 3 compilation released by Crass Records.
Meanwhile, young guitarist Justin Broadrick was playing by himself in a project called "Final". Nic Bullen met Broadrick in a Birmingham record shop in which both used to hang out. They had similar interests (Punk Rock, Metal, Throbbing Gristle) and soon enough Justin was admitted into Nic Bullen's band. This was around May 1985, and with him came the very first metal sounds. They then recorded a demo, Hatred Surge on which they had some funny pseudonyms. The line-up described on the demo is: Nik - Vox, Just - Guitar, Nuts - Bass, Rat - Drums.
