UMUR "Smear Campaign" is the 13th full-length studio album by UK death metal/grindcore act Napalm Death. The album was released through Century Media Records in September 2006. It´s the successor to "The Code Is Red...Long Live the Code" from 2005, and features the same four-piece lineup who recorded the predecessor. Mark "Barney" Greenway (lead vocals), Mitch Harris (guitar, backing vocals), Shane Embury (bass, backing vocals), and Danny Herrera (drums). As a first on a Napalm Death album a couple of tracks feature female vocals, as Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering, The Gentle Storm, solo) performs on "Weltschmerz" and "In Deference".

Stylistically the material on "Smear Campaign" pretty much continue the politically charged grindcore/death metal style of the predecessor (this time particularly critical of religion and religious institutions). In many ways it´s a similar sounding release to "The Code Is Red...Long Live the Code (2005)", although Napalm Death branch out a little more on "Smear Campaign". The (very) rare use of clean vocals, and the inclusion of female vocals show development, but other than that this is post-2000 Napalm Death as we know and love them. Unconventionally structured tracks, fierce aggression, and highly energetic playing. Napalm Death are an incredibly well playing band and the listener is treated to one brutal and aggressive creative riff after another (even the most simple grindcore/hardcore riffs usually feature a twist or seque into something adventurous), constant tempo changes dictated by powerhouse drummer Herrera, and the gruff shouted vocals by Greenway. "Smear Campaign" also features a lot of screaming high pitched vocals performed by Harris, so the vocal part of the music is relatively varied.

"Smear Campaign" is a consistent release in terms of quality and style, and any track from the 16 track, 45:09 minutes long album could be mentioned as worth listening to. The often unconventional song structures have a lot to do with the album continuing to be an interesting listen throughout the album´s playing time and a good example of that is "Sink Fast, Let Go", which is initially a blast beat grindcore/hardcore infused track, which develops and features both heavier groove laden sections, and an atmospheric clean vocal part. That´s what sets Napalm Death apart from a lot of other grindcore acts. The perfect balance between raw aggression and sophisticated compositional details. Not many other contemporary artists in the genre master the latter to the point of perfection found on "Smear Campaign".

"Smear Campaign" features a powerful, raw, and detailed sound production which suits the material perfectly. The album was recorded from May to June 2006 at Foel Studios, Llanfair Caerinion, Wales with producer Russ Russell, which is a repetition of how "The Code Is Red...Long Live the Code (2005)" was recorded and produced, again linking the two albums together in a sibling relationship. Upon conclusion "Smear Campaign" is yet another strong post-2000 album release by Napalm Death, and a 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is deserved.

Kingcrimsonprog Tasked with following up possibly three of the best albums that they made in over fifteen years, Napalm Death endeavored to release essentially more of the same only with a few new ideas as well. Like many Napalm Death fans I was greatly pleased with the renewed energy and intensity that the band had adopted for the fantastic trio of albums ‘Enemy of the Music Business,’ ‘Order of the Leech,’ and especially ‘The Code Is Red… Long Live The Code,’ which were very strong albums that made Napalm Death sound important again after their experimental period.

2006′s Smear Campaign largely follows the Death, Grind and American Hardcore stylistic mixture that made the previous three albums so good; keeping the occasional unexpected Hatebreed style riffs, the blasting over swirling riffs and the general extreme-metal harshness that fans have come to expect.

There is a bit of variety to be had on Smear Campaign; the album has the unique status of featuring lyrics almost solely on the topic of religion, as opposed to the band’s usual mostly political content. Furthermore some of the songs venture into different territory such as the intro ‘Weltschmerz,’ (which is slightly reminiscent of the intros from ‘Scum,’ and ‘From Enslavement’) or unusual ‘In Deference,’ with its guest female vocals, but as a general rule the songs are pretty fast, contain many blastbeats and the songs are often rather short.

Overall, Smear Campaign is a pretty solid Napalm Death album, although stylistically quite similar to the three albums which proceeded it. If this is not a problem, then Smear Campaign will be a welcome addition to your collection, perhaps not the greatest album that they ever released but giving you everything you could want from a modern Napalm Death album nonetheless.