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Hail Of Bullets: ...Of frost and war

29/04/08 || Lord K Philipson

Gorefest = a killer band from Holland. Killer people as well. I know this coz I met half the band (Ed and Boud) while touring with Vomitory. These four fuckers are responsible for some ace death metal albums (and one or two really shitty non-death metal ones too) over the last 600 years. Definitely deserving some kind of legendary status in the scene.

Asphyx = also a somewhat legendary band from Holland. I never dug what I heard from them in the past, and vocalist/superhero Martin assures me I won’t like them today either. But fuck that since the guys are a bunch of excellent dudes and all. Yeah, I have met them. I even got a t-shirt from them, that’s how fucken good friends we are. Oki…

Thanatos = Yep, Holland as well. Can’t say I remember what they sounded like, nor do I care. Nor did I ever meet any of them. I think. Hardly close to anything legendary in my book.

Howitser = The last one, and less known I guess, of these 4 Dutch bands. Never heard or heard of Howitser. Pretty sure that makes them everything but legendary. I don’t think I ever met these guys either.

Bad introduction aside, this leads me to the following:

Members from all of these above-mentioned groups have joined troops in this semi-new platoon. Yes, I’m king with the war-references already. Yay me! The war-themed tank (whoa!) that is Hail Of Bullets throw their debut full-length grenade (and now we don’t need any more war associations in this review, yes?) “...Of frost and war” our way, not caring about any eventual damage they might cause with their arsenal (sigh) of musical missiles (zzzzz…).

HoB’s a somewhat all-star death metal band featuring the legendary Martin van Drulen (that’s an intentional typo only me and Martin himself will laugh at like 8 year olds) from Pestilence (when they were actually still listenable, before that Mameli jackoff completely ruined the band. Can’t let an opportunity like this pass me by when it comes to pissing on Mameli) fame and Ed Warby of Gorefest, to name 2 of them. As you can see there’s some experience in this band, something that should automatically guarantee quality death metal music.

But is that the case?

Of course it is. “Quality” is these guys’ middle-name. They are old, they have played death metal for centuries and centuries, so ofcourse they know how to make shit sound professional and all that jizz. Having 2 of my fave musicians on the same album (Martin and Ed, ofcourse) is not something that happens on a daily basis, so it’s with joy I go thru this disc, kindly sent to us by the label. The demo HoB released some time ago displayed a band with a lot of promise and full knowledge of how sludgy death metal should sound. This album is not letting any fan of said demo down, that’s for sure. While perhaps having a few too many songs on it (I could do without some slower ones), there’s no denying that HoB will most definitely get the success they deserve, since they are backed up by a huge label and all. There’s no flashy shit going on here with “...Of frost and war”, HoB are fully content with creating and paying homage to some old-school death metal, and they do it very well even if everything on here don’t grab me by my maggot infested vagina.

I think my main problem with this cd is the amount of non-groovy, slower songs/parts, as hinted at some paragraph back. That shit pretty much bores me (and I think that’s why I never got into Asphyx, by the way). HoB, like many other bands, are sounding their best when they pull off their faster material, the kind of songs that make Martin’s voice and Ed’s fantastic drumming come to their full right. They should really concentrate on that kind of material to fully please me and my needs for old-school death metal, but something tells me they are not actually writing music for the sole reason to satisfy my ass. Hey, fuck it as it matters little. This effort is full enough of brutality, quality and catchy riff-fests whichever way you deal with it. By the way, I wonder if it’s just me or if the re-recorded demo tracks simply just stand out as the best material on this album?

There’s really not all that much more to say about “...Of frost and war”. If you like your death metal semi-fast, somewhat groovy, full of excellent drumming and vocals together with a fat-sounding production courtesy of Dan Swanö... well, then Hail Of Bullets should definitely be a part of your next breakfast. I’ll use them as a fine quick meal in-between old Pestilence and some mighty fine Bolt Thrower.

7,5/10.

Information
Released: 2008
Label: Metal Blade
Website: www.hailofbullets.com
Band
Martin van Drunen: vocals
Paul Baayens: guitars
Stephan Gebédi: guitars
Theo van Eekelen: bass
Ed Warby: drums

Tracklist
01. Before the storm
02. Ordered eastward
03. The Lake Ladoga massacre
04. General Winter
05. Advancing once more
06. Red wolves of Stalin
07. Nachthexen
08. The crucial offensive (19-11-1942, 7:30 AM)
09. Stalingrad
10. Insanity commands (bonus track)
11. Inferno at the Carpathian Mountains
12. Berlin

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