| | Bolt Thrower | |
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Mash
Number of posts : 2822 Age : 181 Location : Canada Registration date : 2009-03-07
| Subject: Bolt Thrower Sat Mar 07, 2009 2:42 pm | |
| One of Britain's most consistent and enduring death metal bands, Birmingham's Bolt Thrower has weathered the best and worst of times in the extreme genre's history without ever giving in to commercial temptations, or hardly even altering its sound. The fact that they were unusually blessed with a steady lineup throughout much of their career no doubt contributed to this stability, and though they were rarely bestowed wild praise for their efforts, with most of their competitors or contemporaries either adopting other styles or long retired, Bolt Thrower has gradually established itself as one of the best death metal bands ever to emerge from England. Guitarist Gavin Ward and drummer Andy Whale formed Bolt Thrower in heavy metal's original birthing ground, the industrial city of Birmingham, England, in 1986. Taking their name from a character in one of their favorite role-playing games, Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the duo soon drafted vocalist Alan West, guitarist Barry Thompson, and bassist Jo Bench (one of the first female musicians to take part in an extreme metal group of any sort). True to form given their name, Bolt Thrower would dedicate their whole career to analyzing and dissecting all aspects of human warfare -- its history, its weapons, etc. -- and they quickly took to the road in order to perfect a brutalizing musical onslaught worthy of backing up such morbid subject matter. Despite their material's general inaccessibility, legendary BBC Radio1 DJ John Peel became an early supporter, hosting the group for various early sessions (subsequently released in 1991 with the expected Peel Sessions title) and helping to bolster their profile on their way to securing a deal with the Vinyl Solutions label. Around this time, West was replaced by the band's van driver, one Karl Willetts, who soon proved himself a more than capable successor and served as the final necessary cog in the Bolt Thrower war machine. Released in 1988 with little success, their poorly produced and somewhat tentative debut album, In Battle There Is No Law, lacked the focused ferocity yet to come, but already delved deeply into their lyrical obsessions with anything warlike. The following year, Bolt Thrower became one of the first acts to sign with on-the-rise extreme metal powerhouse Earache Records (also the home of grindcore experts Napalm Death) and 1989's Realm of Chaos fittingly saw them partnering with Games Workshop, the company responsible for the Warhammer game which had inspired their name. Boasting lyrics directly inspired by the game and featuring custom artwork provided by GWS, Realm of Chaos was a far more confident effort, and despite experiencing continued problems on the production end of things, it was clear that the band was slowly finding its identity. Bolt Thrower then joined the now-infamous Grindcrusher tour, also featuring Napalm Death, Carcass, and Morbid Angel, across the U.K., before starting work on what would become their most definitive album, 1991's Warmaster. This time, producer Colin Richardson helped the band achieve the taught, precision-filled intensity they'd been looking for all along, and the resulting LP has since come to represent Bolt Thrower's signature sound: Willetts' deeply guttural growl combined with Ward and Thompson's nearly impenetrable wall of dense guitar riffs, set to the requisite double kick drums; but interestingly, these didn't always resort to all-out speed, but rather maintained a measured, pounding pace, which was somehow even more powerful for it. Their sonic paradigm now in place, Bolt Thrower kept themselves extremely busy for the next few years, touring incessantly across the U.K. and Europe with the likes of Unleashed and Cemetary, while recording strong follow-ups like 1992's The IVth Crusade and 1994's For Victory, each of which achieved only slightly inferior results and maintained the group's gradual shift toward slower, doomier styles. Bolt Thrower's longtime stability was coming to an end, however, as vocalist Willetts and drummer Whale threw in their lot around this time, wishing to get off the road and pursue a more normal lifestyle. For their part, the remaining bandmembers were becoming increasingly protective of their art, and, convinced they weren't getting the best promotional support, parted company with Earache and signed to Metal Blade. Meanwhile, replacement musicians came and went as the group prepared new material, and repeated delays over artwork kept postponing the release of their sixth official album. By the time 1998's Mercenary finally arrived, original singer Willetts had been persuaded to return long enough to record his parts and new drummer Alex Thomas was sitting on the hot-stool; but by then, most fans had given Bolt Thrower up for dead and moved onto new bands to idolize. Perhaps reflecting the turmoil within, the record was also hardly one of their most stellar outings, and it was neatly overshadowed by former label Earache's Who Dares Wins collection of the same year. Dutch vocalist Martin VanDrunen was brought in for touring purposes, but further lineup changes preceded the recording of 2001's semi-comeback Honour Valour Pride, by which time Bolt Thrower's core lineup of Thompson, Ward, and Bench was complemented by drummer Martin Kearns and ex-Benediction singer Dave Ingram. Ingram left soon after the record's release, prompting the return of original vocalist Karl Willets. Those Once Loyal, Bolt Thrower's eighth studio album, was relased on Metal Blade in November, 2005. http://www.boltthrower.com/http://www.myspace.com/boltthrower | |
| | | GodlessEndeavor
Number of posts : 1472 Age : 31 Location : In the Eternal Gaze of the All-Seeing Eye Registration date : 2009-03-07
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Mon Mar 09, 2009 2:08 pm | |
| Ah, good ol' Bolt Thrower, one of many many bands that Death Metal would be nothing without. "Realm of Chaos", "Warmaster" and The "IVth Crusade" are by far their best releases. | |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Tue Mar 10, 2009 12:09 am | |
| Warmaster is easily my favorite album by them. They're a pretty cool band, very underrated though. I really enjoy the vocals aswell on this band. |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Thu Mar 12, 2009 1:12 am | |
| Yeeesss another good one! In general this band brings you heavy kick in your ass! But for some people it can be boring later on, because I must say it's a huge minus for British, because after you listen their albums couple of times you don't here much difference. But anyways, "Inside The Wire" RUUUULES! |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Wed Apr 01, 2009 1:18 pm | |
| Realm of Chaos is pure brutality, in a good way, but my favourite from them would have to be ...For Victory. The leads on that one are EPIC |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Sat Apr 04, 2009 9:57 am | |
| They need to retire. Their early stuff was great but their last few albums have been lazy, uninspired and dull. Not to mention the amount of times they recycle their riffs is astonishing. |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Sat Apr 04, 2009 10:01 am | |
| Yeah, it's good when a band knows when it's over. However, when one doesn't know when it's over is usally when they start producing dull boring things. |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Sat Apr 04, 2009 10:50 am | |
| Yeah, their latest work wasn't too great. I have heard in an interview that they decided to make Those Once Loyal (which was actually pretty good) their last album, but I may be wrong. |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Sat Apr 04, 2009 2:08 pm | |
| Those Once Loyal is awesome. Apparently Bolt Thrower are on a hiatus, and they don't know if they will get back together to record a new album. |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Sat Apr 04, 2009 7:48 pm | |
| - Slaytanic wrote:
- Those Once Loyal is awesome. Apparently Bolt Thrower are on a hiatus, and they don't know if they will get back together to record a new album.
Good. They've tarnished their reputation enough with the last few albums. |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Sat Apr 04, 2009 11:16 pm | |
| hhahaha not as much as Sepultura have. |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Sun Apr 05, 2009 5:54 am | |
| - Slaytanic wrote:
- hhahaha not as much as Sepultura have.
Yeah, that's true. A-Lex was damn awful. |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Sun Apr 05, 2009 11:18 am | |
| Bolt Thrower are totally amazing. I love this band a lot. ALL of their albums are killer and they should be blasted out of tanks fighting in wars. Yeah, if I was in charge of whatever part of the military, I would make sure that Bolt Thrower is getting blasted too, not just ammunition and whatnot. |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Mon Apr 06, 2009 7:47 am | |
| - DeathMetalGod wrote:
- Bolt Thrower are totally amazing. I love this band a lot. ALL of their albums are killer and they should be blasted out of tanks fighting in wars. Yeah, if I was in charge of whatever part of the military, I would make sure that Bolt Thrower is getting blasted too, not just ammunition and whatnot.
I have a better idea. Give your side earplugs and blast new Bolt Thrower out of speakers on the sides of tanks to bore the enemy to death. |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Tue Apr 07, 2009 3:11 am | |
| - Ripzz wrote:
- Slaytanic wrote:
- hhahaha not as much as Sepultura have.
Yeah, that's true. A-Lex was damn awful. The hardcore element is just too much in the forefront. I hope Blot Thrower get their shit together and get a new album out soon. |
| | | Heat Admin
Number of posts : 10900 Age : 21 Location : SLEEP Registration date : 2009-03-06
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Wed May 06, 2009 5:58 pm | |
| Listening to Realm Of Chaos, I a;ways forget how good this band is. | |
| | | Acid_Bath_
Number of posts : 287 Location : USA Registration date : 2009-04-12
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Wed May 06, 2009 6:20 pm | |
| give me a break! Those Once Loyal is one of their best. not my favorite - I do prefer their older works, but it's easily in the top five. I'll give ya'll a free pass on the basis of either A. ignorance B. bad taste C. ear wax | |
| | | Heat Admin
Number of posts : 10900 Age : 21 Location : SLEEP Registration date : 2009-03-06
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Wed May 06, 2009 6:35 pm | |
| Ear wax AND just way too many albums to listen to. I need 30 hours in a day. | |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Wed May 06, 2009 10:54 pm | |
| - Ripzz wrote:
- DeathMetalGod wrote:
- Bolt Thrower are totally amazing. I love this band a lot. ALL of their albums are killer and they should be blasted out of tanks fighting in wars. Yeah, if I was in charge of whatever part of the military, I would make sure that Bolt Thrower is getting blasted too, not just ammunition and whatnot.
I have a better idea. Give your side earplugs and blast new Bolt Thrower out of speakers on the sides of tanks to bore the enemy to death. Ahahaha yeah that could work too! |
| | | Heat Admin
Number of posts : 10900 Age : 21 Location : SLEEP Registration date : 2009-03-06
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Wed May 20, 2009 7:25 am | |
| The Killchain is one awesome song. I love the riff. | |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Wed May 20, 2009 1:35 pm | |
| That recurring riff rules! It's in World Eater and Cenotaph. There's others that have that riff, but I can't be arsed to think of the others. |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Wed May 20, 2009 4:02 pm | |
| I hate the fact that Bolt Thrower recycles riffs. |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Mon Jun 08, 2009 3:30 pm | |
| My all-time favourite band, I used to have a BT Fansite for few years. They made no weak album, but imho the best one is "...For Victory". Pure epic stuff! |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Thu Jun 11, 2009 6:25 am | |
| ONe of my favourites, probaly my favourite death metal bands in fact. Consistent, always a good output, if its not broken, why fix it? I love their early albums and i'm glad they didnt steer too far from that.
Seeing them for the first time in august, playing my hometown (near to theirs) lol, so should be a good gig. |
| | | Guest Guest
| Subject: Re: Bolt Thrower Thu Jun 11, 2009 5:01 pm | |
| I love Those Once Loyal as well, on par with their other stuff. The title track gets me especially... |
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