2008 was a year sadly lacking in Bolt Thrower. So why not a Dutch super-band, featuring the vocals of former Pestilence/Asphyx frontman Martin van Drunen (who actually handled frontman duties for Bolt Thrower for a few years), who successfully celebrate the brand of simplistic, groove laden yet brutal death metal that those UK war machines created so many years ago?
Well, the debut from Hail of Bullets is that and more. Take the influence of the aforementioned, some Celtic Frost, Massacre and Death, refine it with a modern, crushing production, and then proceed to elephant up, trampling everything in the room. This is Hail of Bullets. This is war. It doesn't end with van Drunen though, the rest of the Bullets have quite a resume of their own. Guitars and bass come courtesy of Paul Baayens, Stephan Gebedi, and Theo van Eekelen of Dutch veterans Thanatos. Drummer Ed Warby hails from bands and projects as varied as Gorefest, Demiurg, Ayreon, Elegy, and After Forever.
The 12 tracks here represent one of the most monumental and excellent death metal releases of this year or any other. Simple yet extremely powerful production, crisp and crushing. Conceptually it loosely follows the German-Soviet conflicts of the 1940s, and it fucking sounds like it. The orchestration of "Before the Storm (Barbarossa)" sets the stage for the raging "Ordered Eastward", recalling a more grinding version of Bolt Thrower with van Drunen doing his best post-Pestilence work. I feel this sort of album is perfectly catered to an old schooler like myself, and every damn track is fantastic. The slow drawl of "General Winter" breaks into some firm death metal pacing. "Red Wolves of Stalin" moves with a D-beat rhythm, completely crushing everything else of that entire genre that I've heard in years. "Insanity Commands" is almost doom-like in its delivery until the inevitable Bolt Thrower beatdown not-so-hidden within.
This is just sick. One of my favorite death metal vocalists of all time, rekindling his earlier fire and fronting a worthy band (I wasn't personally into his Asphyx stuff). The delivery is crude and barbaric. It doesn't need complexity. It's fucking war, in touch with both its roots and the production values of a top tier modern metal album. An essential for anyone who is not a pussy. Don't be a pussy. Listen to Bolt Thrower. And listen to Hail of Bullets.
Verdict: Epic Win [9/10] (autumn at the Eastern Front)
http://www.hailofbullets.com/
2 comments:
van drunen is so cool
I really really like this album !! And I may be able to see them near Amsterdam this year, It would be cool .
As for Asphyx I saw them twice and twice it was war on stage and in the pit too.
You have a cool metal blog there !!
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