For some insane reason I've yet to pick up last year's debut full-length from "all-star" Dutch death metal outfit Hail of Bullets, but I'll have to remedy that problem soon, as its follow-up EP, "Warsaw Rising" (once more from Metal Blade Records) continues to impress with its powerful blasts of "old school" death metal (three new tracks—one of which is a Twisted Sister cover—and three live cuts from the full-length). These guys clearly fucking love death metal. I mean, the lineup has also been involved with Pestilence, Asphyx, Thanatos, Houwitser, and Gorefest—and that's only citing the most notable of their exploits! They basically keep things simple with pounding, meaty uses of speed countered by loads of thick, churning, midpaced riffs—as well as some warped soloing and of course the fiercely snarled vocals rasps of the always incredible Martin Van Drunen. The recording is also super crisp and clear, which really accentuates all the gritty little textural nuances of the amazing guitar tone (and the vocals, for that matter)—which has sort of a Bolt Thrower meets Sunlight kinda thing goin' on. Excellent. And while I typically have just about zero interest in live recordings, the three songs herein sound fuckin' killer: To the point where I probably wouldn't even have noticed that they're live performances were it not for the applause/banter between songs. I don't know if it's their wealth of experience, pure talent, or sheer love of the music, but this band has just the right energy and atmosphere to unload classic, kick-ass death metal even in this day and age, without sounding too modern or like a complete throwback. I'm lovin' every minute of it...
Hail of Bullets "Warsaw Rising"
I'm not entirely sure, but this might be a digital-only release in the US, as I can't find mention of physical copies for sale anywhere (and the only mention I see of physical copies in Europe is a 10" limited to just 500 copies). Either way, it's fairly inexpensive and delivers the goods!
Get It
Metal Blade Records (mp3)
Amazon.com (mp3)
iTunes (mp3)
Comments
awesome band!
there is mentioning of their MCD:
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=154586204&blogId=495197451
it’s pre-order and it’s too late but maybe they still have some copies left…
7.22.2009 | By Carlos
I’ve been digging this EP a lot, too. And, yes, the live tracks are where it’s at! Surprising.
7.22.2009 | By Invisible Oranges
Good shit! Sounds more Swedish than their debut, I guess cause the guitar tone is even more in that direction this time.
7.22.2009 | By Justin
“Old-school death metal” may be the latest buzz genre, but I can’t get enough of it. I thought the debut LP was one of the best records of 2008 in any genre. Can’t wait to hear the new EP.
7.22.2009 | By CarlSk
yes there is a lot “old school” DM albums lately. This is one of the best bands of this “style”.
7.24.2009 | By Carlos
I picked this CD up from the band directly, from their forum on
http://www.globaldomination.se
It was a limited release fans only thing and no copies were sent out to shops. If you go to the forum maybe you can get a copy, or if they are all gone maybe someone will post it somewhere so that you can download it.
10.10.2009 | By Dave Death
Oh, okay you can still download it but not buy it as CD.
The CD was 1000 copies only.
10.10.2009 | By Dave Death