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Hail Of Bullets: On divine winds
22/10/10 || cadenz
If you look up “no-nonsense” in a dictionary, you’ll find a picture of a Dutch quintet laying down an ominous stare upon your sorry ass. You will be outstared. Hail of Bullets is a collaboration of five highly merited death metal musicians (with such bands as Bolt Thrower, Pestilence, Gorefest, Asphyx, Thanatos and many more on their resumes), pummeling our eardrums with some sweet mid-tempo, lyrically war-themed, no-nonsense death metal. HoB’s firstling “…Of Frost and War” was released in 2008 and now it’s time to seek the truth behind events that occurred in the Pacific Sea during WW2 on their sophomore disc “On Divine Winds”. We are mighty curious.
An ill-boding intro sets the mood, and the first real track “Operation Z” kicks in. This is an energetic, catchy, frenetic speedster (on the HoB scale) that obliterates you to pieces, just like the hammering guns of the Japanese air force disintegrated the US troops on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. A superb production (courtesy of Dan Swanö and Ed Warby) gives the guitar riffs a menacing edge, driving the bullets even deeper. Warby’s drums sound absolutely fantastic, and his playing is as solid as ever. Despite the slight feeling that I’ve heard parts of these riffs before, this track is pure gold and clearly the best song on the disc. Good choice for opener, even though it breaks the chronological order of the tale told by the lyrics.
Throughout the record we are treated to down-tuned but crispy riffs that never stray from the classic death metal mould, and why would we want anything else when it’s done this expertly? Mildly fast, thrashy two-beats are found aplenty, as well as slower doomy incantations. A cool example of the latter is “Tokyo Napalm Holocaust”. Killer atmosphere. The impure and SIKK voice of van Drunen gives “On Divine Winds” a unique flavor, and contrasts nicely with the cleaner production.
The haunting, oppressive gloom of the war is starkly felt during the last trio of songs, which finish off the album strong after a few tracks that don’t stand out as much. Autopilot mode seems to kick in a few times, and that’s when I start to lose interest. Even though all tracks are well-composed and well-played, every now and then the X factor decides to play hide and seek. Could be a result of the slight conformism between the tracks, which the purists will of course argue brings cohesion to the whole. Pick your choice.
For fans of not-too-fast death metal, this album is a sure winner. I find it refreshing to hear a true slab of thick demise without the need to use blast beats or 128th triplet kicks. Despite the few lapses into averageness, the song quality is remarkably high and not for one second did I not enjoy riding the divine winds. Even though they decided to press rape charges. Hail thee, Bullet Boys!
- Information
- Released: 2010
- Label: Metal Blade
- Website: www.hailofbullets.com
- Band
- Martin van Drunen: vocals
- Paul Baayens: guitars
- Stephan Gebedi: guitars
- Theo van Eekelen: bass
- Ed Warby: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. The Eve of Battle
- 02. Operation Z
- 03. The Mukden Incident
- 04. Strategy of Attrition
- 05. Full Scale War
- 06. Guadalcanal
- 07. On Choral Shores
- 08. Unsung Heroes
- 09. Tokyo Napalm Holocaust
- 10. Kamikaze
- 11. To Bear the Unbearable
