Order of the Leech

Napalm Death's deal with Dreamcatcher, the label behind Enemy of the Music Business, had not worked out, Barney Greenway said in August 2002, and the new album was to come out through Spitfire Records in the US and Snapper Music in Europe. The European edition carried the band's own FETO Records imprint, and its back cover describes FETO as a Snapper Music label. The American CD came first, in October 2002, and the album was on the British charts in November. The title comes from a line in "To Lower Yourself (Blind Servitude)". Greenway said it was not his first choice: the others liked the line and picked it. Recording began in July 2002, later than planned because other bands had overrun at the studio, as Shane Embury explained at the time. The drums were done at Parkgate Studios, where the previous album had been made, and the rest was recorded and mixed at Chapel Studios in Lincolnshire (printed "Chappel" on the sleeve), with mastering at The Townhouse in London. Simon Efemey and Russ Russell share the production and engineering credit. The booklet of the British digipak prints no line-up, only who wrote the music and the words of each song. Jesse Pintado is credited with the music of "Farce and Fiction" and "Blows to the Body". The same sessions produced versions of two songs by Septic Death, the hardcore band led by Pushead: "Terror Rain" and "Thaw". They were left off the CD and added to the vinyl edition, SLAVE001LP, which also had different cover art. In Britain the album reached number 28 on the Rock & Metal Albums Chart and number 29 on the Independent Albums Chart, where it spent three weeks. The running order here is the twelve tracks of the CD, titled as printed.