UMUR
"...For Victory" is the 5th full-length studio album by UK death metal act Bolt Thrower. The album was released through Earache Records in November 1994. "The IVth Crusade (1992)" earned Bolt Thrower much critical acclaim and for the death metal genre the album was commercially successful too and provided the band with a position among the elite of UK death metal acts.
"...For Victory" pretty much continue down the same war/battle themed death metal style as it´s predecessor. To me it sounds like they have trimmed the fat though, making "...For Victory" a more compact and consistenly high quality release than "The IVth Crusade (1992)". It´s like they took all the great things from the predecessor and left out the not so great ones in the process too. The music is unmistakably the sound of Bolt Thrower though with heavy downtuned and groove based riffing and simple yet effective songwriting. Karl Willetts sounds more commanding and aggressive than ever while still maintaining his brutal edge. The rest of the band sound tighter than ever too. I´ve been critisizing Andrew Whale´s drumming in the past but I guess all the touring they did in support of "The IVth Crusade (1992)" payed off because here he delivers a great performance.
The 10 track, 39:35 minutes long album is pretty much packed with one gem after another. Very few times during the album´s playing time do the quality drop just slightly. Just take a listen to tracks like "Remembrance", "When Glory Beckons" or the title track which fully display the brutal yet epic war themed death metal of the band. If I have to mention a minor issue with the album it´s that the tracks are slightly one-dimensional, but it´s to be expected from a death metal album in this vein and from Bolt Thrower in particular. They seldom break out of their formula to the great joy of their fans and to the great despair of their critics. If people who are not familiar with the band´s material ask me which Bolt Thrower album they should start with, I recommend "...For Victory". A 4 - 4.5 star (85%) rating is fully deserved.