Smear Campaign (album)

Smear Campaign is the twelfth studio album by grindcore band Napalm Death. It was recorded with producer Russ Russell at Foel Studios, Wales, and was released on 15 September 2006. It was released as a regular CD, and as a digipak edition featuring two bonus tracks and a sticker of the cover artwork. Differently coloured versions of the cover art exist.

Smear Campaign
Studio album by Napalm Death
Released	15 September 2006 (2006-09-15)
Recorded	18–27 May 2006 and 3–10 June 2006
Studio	Foel Studios, Llanfair Caereinion
Genre	Grindcore death metal
Length	45:09 54:34 (vinyl and digipak CD)
Label	Century Media
Producer	Russ Russell
Napalm Death chronology
The Code Is Red...Long Live the Code (2005) Smear Campaign (2006) Time Waits for No Slave (2009)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Blabbermouth	9.5/10[2]
Chronicles of Chaos	9/10[3]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	9/10[4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[5]
The Metal Forge	9/10[6]
Sea of Tranquility	[7]

Shortly before the release, Barney Greenway mentioned that the album features a guest appearance by Anneke van Giersbergen, ex-vocalist for the Dutch rock band The Gathering, saying, "[She] has offered up a few parts to a track, which I've yet to hear. But before some people recoil in horror about Napalm going operatic rock or whatever, this was done for good effect and relevance to the track. It will work. It will rock. I'm sure. And we're grateful to Anneke (who is an awesome vocalist in her own right) in advance for giving it a stab."^[8]

Smear Campaign is a concept album criticising religion in general.^[9]

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Weltschmerz"	Greenway	Harris	1:27
2.	"Sink Fast, Let Go"	Greenway	Mitch Harris	3:22
3.	"Fatalist"	Greenway	Embury	2:50
4.	"Puritanical Punishment Beating"	Greenway	Harris	3:25
5.	"When All Is Said and Done"	Embury	Embury	3:00
6.	"Freedom Is the Wage of Sin"	Greenway	Harris	3:08
7.	"In Deference"	Greenway	Harris	3:13
8.	"Short-Lived"	Greenway	Embury	3:05
9.	"Identity Crisis"	Greenway	Harris	2:43
10.	"Shattered Existence"	Embury	Embury	3:10
11.	"Eyes Right Out"	Greenway	Harris	3:13
12.	"Call That an Option? (vinyl and digipak CD limited editions bonus track)"	Greenway	Embury	3:02
13.	"Warped Beyond Logic"	Greenway	Embury	1:59
14.	"Rabid Wolves (For Christ)"	Greenway	Embury	1:23
15.	"Deaf and Dumbstruck (Intelligent Design)"	Greenway	Harris	2:45
16.	"Persona Non Grata"	Greenway	Embury	2:46
17.	"Smear Campaign"	Greenway	Embury	2:47
18.	"Atheist Runt (vinyl and digipak CD limited editions bonus track)"	Greenway	Embury	6:43

Personnel

Napalm Death Mark "Barney" Greenway – vocals Shane Embury – bass, vocals Mitch Harris – guitars, vocals Danny Herrera – drums

Additional personnel Anneke van Giersbergen – additional vocals (1, 7) Russ Russell – production, engineering, recording, mixing Chris Fielding – assistant engineering Mick Kenney – album art Kevin Estrada – band photo

Chart positions

Chart (2006)	Peak position
French Albums (SNEP)[10]	158

References

1. Prato, Greg. Napalm Death: Smear Campaign > Overview at AllMusic. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
2. Bergman, Keith (2 October 2006). "Napalm Death 'Smear Campaign'". Blabbermouth.net. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
3. Smit, Jackie (22 August 2006). "Napalm Death – Smear Campaign". Chronicles of Chaos. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
4. Popoff, Martin; Perri, David (2011). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 4: The '00s. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 346. ISBN 9781-926592-20-6.
5. Larkin, Colin, ed. (2007). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. pp. 1015–1016. ISBN 978-0857125958.
6. Donnelly, Justin (5 October 2006). "Napalm Death – Smear Campaign". The Metal Forge. Sumner, Queensland. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
7. Pardo, Pete (21 August 2006). "Napalm Death: Smear Campaign". Sea of Tranquility. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
8. Official Napalm Death forum
9. "Napalm Death: 'Smear Campaign' Track Listing Revealed". Blabbermouth.net. 24 July 2006. Retrieved 19 October 2014.
10. "Lescharts.com – Napalm Death – Smear Campaign". Hung Medien. Retrieved 11 October 2014.