Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Hail of Bullets - Warsaw Rising EP (2009)

Hot on the heels of their excellent debut album last year, Dutch death blitzkrieg Hail of Bullets return with a teaser EP. Anyone enjoyed the grounded hybrid of Pestilence and Bolt Thrower that was ...Of Frost and War should rest assured that no changes have been made, the band is still pure death war metal with World War lyrical themes.

The EP begins with what we've really been anticipating, two new tracks. "Warsaw Rising" and "Liberators" both crush, simple and primal, often familiar grinders dripping in Van Drunen's superbly sick and hostile vocals. Both would have fit well on ...Of Frost and War. The band has also seen fit to include an interesting choice of cover song, Twisted Sister's "Destroyer". While the song isn't all that to begin with, it has been transformed to fit into the Hail of Bullets canon, and you may enjoy this version even if you couldn't care less about the original. The final three tracks are live cuts recorded at the Party San Open Air in Germany. "Red Wolfs of Stalin", "Nachthexen" and "The Crucial Offensive" sound solid enough in their live setting.

Warsaw Rising is pretty much a bone being thrown out to fans. If you truly enjoyed their debut, then this is probably worth your money and time. I'm not always high on the EP format (except for demos), but I did enjoy the new tracks, and it seems the band will be staying their course for future material.

Verdict: Win [7.5/10]

http://www.hailofbullets.com/

No comments: