This album isn't my favorite but it's a solid evolutionary step in the Napalm Death sound. After Utopia Banished & Harmony Corruption they couldn't exactly go back to their old sound... Besides, I think that industrial flavor they mix in with the thrash makes everything pretty interesting. Don't compare it to keyboard-laden black metal bands. Don't even compare it to other ND albums. Just buy it, enjoy it on its own merits, then crank it up really loud and drive through your neighbor's flowerbeds.

#1 Napalm Death album!!
I bought this album when it first came out and I still listen to it religiously. This album was pretty much the creative apex of ND's career it seems like everything before and after this album just pales in comparison. For most ND fans they find this album to be a turn-off because they actually "experiment" with this album and it has been mistaken by many to be their "mainstream" album....hmm...Mainstream??....just how mainstream is Barney's voice?? do you honestly think it had a real shot of getting into VH1's top ten hits. I think of a band like N'Sync or Papa Roach as mainstream if anyone out there can think of ND as mainstream well you've been sniffing too much glue. So basically you need to get off of your heavy metal highhorse, listen to the best Napalm Death album ever made, and basque in the glory that is DIATRIBES!!!! latem

A Welcome Surprise
After being very dissappointed with Napalm's previous cd "Fear, emptiness, despair", when a friend told me they had a new one, I thought : "Napalm is over. They went down the drain with FED. They couln't possibly do better than Harmony Corruption or Utopia Banished, and FED proved it." Boy, was I wrong. The sound was more polished, yes, but not to the point where it took aggression away. The songs had clearly identifiable structures. The riffs were really different for ND, yet still really aggressive. What I appreciated the most was that Barney kept his vocals as rough as ever, except on a couple of tracks. Some bands smooth out their vocals completely, but ND would never do that - good call. By the third song, "Ripe for the breaking" I was already nodding in desbelief, but the clean guitar break really cracked me up! I couldn't believe it. The song "Cold forgiveness" is not bad, but I think it goes too far into industrial for ND. Besides that, there is really not a flaw in this album. It also goes to show that Death Metal or even Grindcore has room for experimentation. At the time I was getting into a "it better be really original or I won't like it" state of mind (I still am), and this cd surpassed my expectations. Napalm Death came back strong on this album, and they're still the best Grindcore band ever.

Napalm Death's attempt at Mainstream proves why they rule...
I am a huge Napalm Death fan, and when I first listened to this back in 1996, I was completely in awe. Not because it was very well-produced sound, but also the strong song-structure. I mean who would have thunk it? Napalm Death having a song like "Cursed To Crawl" that resembles Faith No More's genious and may have been a foreshadowing of the Nu-Metal trend of today? This is by no means their most brutal work, but it still remains a great example that Grindcore and other forms of Extreme Music can be open-minded and able to be played on a more Mainstream scale. Great cd. Not to mention lots of energy and great muscianship. Best songs: The Greed Killing, Glimpse Into Genocide, Cursed To Crawl, and the title track.

PAINFUL--BLISTERINGLY INSANE
THIS IS BY FAR THE BEST NAPALM DEATH ALBUM EVER.ITS FAST, HEAVY, BRUTAL,...UNSPEAKABLY INSANE BEYOND BELIEF.MY FAVORITE ALBUM OF ALL TIME.EVERYTHING A TRUE METALHEAD COULD WANT IS IN THIS ALBUM....THIS LITTLE DISC OF AMAZING, MINDBLOWING BRUTALLY!EVEN IF YOU DONT LIKE THIS,WHICH YOU SHOULD, IT IS STILL TALENT STRIKEN!SO BY IT!ITS WORTH THE MONEY!
Once the epitome of extremism, Napalm Death pales in comparison to later groups like Emperor and At the Gates. Knowing this, Napalm gave up trying to be the most abrasive force in the kingdom, and aimed to be more artistically worthy. Instead of jackhammering the same riffs ad nauseam, Diatribes bludgeons with a variety of tools, exploring elements of "grindcore", industrial, avant-garde, and even funk along the way. Along with creative growth came musical prowess, and for the first time, the members of Napalm Death manipulate their instruments like skilled veterans, instead of like overzealous novices. Dig in. --Jon Wiederhorn