Awful Album Reviews #12: Bolt Thrower - Those Once Loyal

What's going on guys, it's me, the infamous Slayer69, back here for another awful album review! I was supposed to post a review of Bad Religion's How Could Hell Be Any Worse? about a month or so ago, but I never bothered to add the finishing touches on it, so I'm just doing this in the meantime. Also, this is the first post I am ever posting from my new computer I got about 2-3 weeks ago (before you ask, it's a MacBook Air), which is also pretty sick. And I believe this is the first album I am reviewing that is pure metal and not something like nu metal or alternative metal, which I am also a fan of. Basically, this should be an exciting post. Let's get into it!

INTRODUCTION

Those Once Loyal is the eight and final studio album released by English death metal band Bolt Thrower, released on November 11, 2005, in Germany, three days later in the remainder of Europe, and a day after that in the U.S. The album, which was produced by Andy Faulkner and released by Metal Blade records, was recorded and mixed at Sable Rose Studios in Coventry, England. Those Once Loyal, like other albums released by this band, deals with war, which in this case is World War I, as the album cover is based off of an original photograph from that conflict. After this album was released, the band said that their goal was to cease the recording of new music after "the perfect Bolt Thrower" album was released, despite rumors of a ninth album by singer Karl Willetts. Unfortunately for the band, this did end up being their final album, as they broke up a year after the unexpected death of drummer Martin Kearns in 2015. Considering that this was the final release of a very iconic death metal band, is it as good as you would expect it to be? Well, let's dive in and see.

REVIEW

DISCLAIMER: Before I start, I would just like to point out that I am not an expert on the genre of death metal, even though I try to sound like I am. I may be wrong on a couple of the facts, though my opinions define this whole thing. But yeah, just pointing that out.

Anyways, the main thing that I think defines this album and this band is the style that they pioneered and created through albums like these. You can hear it a lot on other iconic Bolt Thrower albums such as War Master (which I listened to just before starting this, actually), and I love how they kept that tone and that style all the way through the final album. I think the fact that this band has their own sound that is easily noticeable is one thing that makes for a good band. This is a bit off-topic, but this past weekend, I was at the Nashville Predators' beginning-of-season festival in downtown Nashville, and there was this alternative band called Moon Taxi playing at it. I heard a bit of them playing, and I didn't think they were very good, just because they sounded pretty much exactly like every other modern alternative band that is somewhat popular. If they had at least a little something that made their music more original, then it would have been a lot better. Bolt Thrower is exactly the opposite, however. As of right now, they are my favorite death metal band, just because the way they used a few elements from the genres of death metal and grindcore and put them together into their own signature style. I love hearing it so much.

One of the big things that defines this Bolt Thrower sound is the guitars. The guitar team of Gavin Ward and Barry Thomson is one of the most underrated ones out there in my opinion. They have an amazing chemistry and probably spend a lot of time writing riffs that define this band and have an original style to them. For example, on the song "Granite Wall", there was a very nice guitar solo that was played over the main riff to the song in the background, which can be pretty hard to pull off. But Ward and Thomson just made it look easy. They did an amazing job together on the track "Last Stand of Humanity" as well, having the rhythm guitar follow the change in drums while the lead played a solo that sounds great with the vibe of the song. A couple months ago, I was at Guitar Center and got a book called "Shredding Death Metal Guitar", and it taught death metal guitar techniques by showing riffs in the styles of many iconic bands such as Death, Opeth, and Cryptopsy. I found one that was in the style of Bolt Thrower, and I listened to the recording of it that was on the CD. That riff was very well-written, and once again represents the originality and signature tone of this band and guitar tandem. Creating something like this isn't always easy, so I praise the band a lot for this.

There's many other things I enjoy in addition to all of this. One of them is the vocal style of singer Karl Willetts. He has a classic death metal vocal growl that seems hard to execute, and the way it comes out is pretty amazing. It's not too tame, but not too brutal, and it matches the sound and feel that the rest of the band is giving off. The basslines played by Jo Bench are not the most interesting or complex, but even simple ones can do a lot. I hear people all the time saying things like, "The bass in metal is pointless," but I think it gives many songs a good structure and foundation in this album. I love the tone that Bench uses in the background of the guitars playing. And the drums are obviously really good. A death metal band with a good drummer and a death metal band with a great drummer can have totally different sounds, and I think that if Martin Kearns was not as talented or as experienced at the time of the recording, the rhythm section would have a slightly different feel to it. I would say the same about the bass, too. 

So yeah, I think there are a lot of positive things that come within this album. Whenever people think of the term "death metal", they just think about something so extreme that it's hard to take seriously, or just too brutal and satanist to get into. And people will often just drop the term in sentences occasionally to mean something extreme, though no one actually thinks about music that actually falls under that category and what it sounds like. But I think that this band and this record squashes a lot of that. It's heavy for sure, but it's not too comical or too violent and brutal. It's pretty much the perfect death metal starter album, at least in my opinion. I think this may have been one of the first death metal albums I ever heard in full, and I was very motivated to dig into the genre after hearing a couple albums from this band. So if you feel brave enough and want to hear what the genre really sounds like, then I would start with this. It's great for that occasion because of how much it accomplishes. Time for track reviews!

TRACK-BY-TRACK REVIEWS

1. "At First Light"

Rating: 10/10

Comments: This song is a great way to open the album, with the loud crashes and striking riffs. They fit very nicely with the vocals and atmosphere of the song and album. Overall a great track.

2. "Entrenched"

Rating: 9/10
Comments: I like how this goes hard right from the final seconds of "At First Light". The riffs are good, and the bass sounds nice. This doesn't stand out compared to other songs on the record, though it is a nice listen.

3. "The Killchain"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: I haven't been into death metal for very long, but this is probably one of my favorite death metal songs I've heard throughout the ride. The riffing is very nice, and the way the song flows is pretty much perfect. Karl Willetts's vocals are especially amazing on this track as well. Also, I think it is very comparable to the song "Cenotaph" from War Master, which is a compliment.

4. "Granite Wall"
Rating: 8.5/10
Comments: This song goes hard for sure, but it's very forgettable to me, and doesn't have as much that makes it memorable or a standout. It is a nice cool-down from the fire that is "The Killchain", though.

5. "Those Once Loyal"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: This song has some very catchy guitar riffs that I've had stuck in my head many times before. I think the vocals here stand out quite a bit, too.

6. "Anti-Tank (Dead Armour)"
Rating: 8.5/10
Comments: This is one of the more popular songs off of the album, though it's definitely not my favorite one. It's not sticky like "Those Once Loyal" or "The Killchain", though the riffing is decent. Jo Bench does a great job on the bass in this song, though, which does give it a nice atmosphere.

7. "Last Stand of Humanity"
Rating: 10/10
Comments: This song stood out to me from the very beginning. The riff is very catchy and I love the solo. It's a simple song, but it sounds quite good.

8. "Salvo"
Rating: 9.5/10
Comments: The combination of the catchy riffs and hard vocals here sounds nice. Not a standout track but is fun to hear.

9. "When Cannons Fade"
Rating: 9/10
Comments: This is a decent track to close out the album, and I kind of like the low-key outro that leads the album to close. I don't like it as much as other people but I think it has a good place on this record.



OVERALL ALBUM SCORE

84/90 = 9.33/10 = 0.93 = 93.33333333%



FINAL WORDS

I don't know about you, but I think that was a pretty amazing record. This band did so much to shape their profile and the world of death metal, and their last effort shows it the best. If this sounds like something you would be interested in hearing, then you can check it out on YouTube here or Spotify here.

And that wraps up this post! Thanks for reading, and if you have any questions, comments, or recommendations, then let me know in the comments section down below. I hope you guys have a great rest of your day, and I will see you all next time! Peace out!