Bolt Thrower
War Master

THE REVIEW

Bolt Thrower are one of the many bands that brought Death Metal to life. The band, formed in 1987, produced their first studio album "In Battle There Is No Law" in 1988, and after a perfect follow-up called "Realm Of Chaos," we arrived at 1991 with this "WarMaster," which is considered by many as the masterpiece of the English band.

The album is perfect, especially considering the year of release when death metal was already in vogue and was almost about to expand into Brutal. From the first track, you can understand the spirit of this CD, straightforward Death Metal, heavily influenced by Thrash Metal, especially in solos and guitar riffs. It transitions from slow and repetitive rhythms to bursts of primordial blast beats; the bass in this sonic context finds neither solo space nor great sound elevation, functioning only as accompaniment. The vocalist's work is truly excellent, with a dark, malevolent growl, in my opinion, one of the best of those times. The band, in my opinion, has been underrated on many occasions, perhaps due to their somewhat tacky and fanatical lyrics. The band is indeed perpetually fixated on the theme of war, as can be easily understood from the covers, specially designed by Games Workshop. Despite this aspect, the band is musically excellent, and this album is proof of that.

Although it was a raw death metal album, it is extremely varied in tempo even if the sound remains unchanged; it transitions from fast to more decayed and slow moments, almost doom, as many other bands were doing at that time. Another strong point is the solos, truly perfect, with a clearly thrash metal stamped style, fast and powerful and rich in harmonics, they may not represent the pinnacle of technique, but they fit perfectly with the album's style.

In conclusion, I can only recommend this album to anyone interested in Death Metal, as it is one of the many masterpieces of this beloved genre of ours.