BOLT THROWER — The IVth Crusade (review)

BOLT THROWER — The IVth Crusade album cover Album · 1992 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Time Signature
This time it's war...

Genre: death metal

"The IVth Crusade" is lightyears better than any of the band's previous releases, I think. The main reason is that the level of musicianship is miles higher than on "War Master". The drumming, which I think was incredibly sloppy on previous releases, is now tighter than a clenched fist, and the double bass drum work is the way it should be on this album.

"The IVth Crusade" is fairly mid-tempo for a death metal album, as the blast beats and grindcore elements are completely gone. The album is nonetheless brutal musically and lyrically - naturally, since Bolt Thrower's lyrical universe primarily deals with war. While not down-tempo like doom metal is, the music on this album is very heavy, and that is what contributes the brutality. Yet the guitar riffs have a certain sense melody to them, and this means that, unlike on the previous releases, the music on this album is also memorable. Some examples are the anthemic main riff of the title track, the opening and main riff of "Icon", the opening and verse riffs of "Where Next to Conquer", the doomy verse riff of "Celestial Sanctuary", and the equally doomy opening riff of "This Time It's War". The album also contains a lot of thrashy elements that remind me primarily of Slayer and early Sacred Reich without the same level of speed.

The only weakness to this album is outro track, which, with its spoken lyrics, becomes a bit annoying.

"The IVth Crusade" is a brilliant heavy death metal album, which should appeal to fans of death metal and perhaps also some fans of doom metal, because it is really heavy. Granted, Bolt Thrower operate with only a handful of riffs per song, which are repeated a lot, but since they are really good and effective riffs, this works very well - people who expect higly technical death metal might be disappointed, but if you like really heavy death metal, then this is an album you cannot afford not to have.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

Oud Zeer Atmospheric Sludge Metal
ONTAARD
Buy this album from MMA partners
Oud Zeer Sludge Metal
THROWING BRICKS
Buy this album from MMA partners
War. Metal Related
WHORES.
Buy this album from MMA partners
The First Breath Is The Beginning Of Death Sludge Metal
IDIOT CHILD
Buy this album from MMA partners
Morbid Curiosities Sludge Metal
LUURCH
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Agremorta - Adrocitas (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Agremorta - Ploratus Umbra (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Agremorta - Vertex Membrana (Official Lyric Video)
AGREMORTA
Bosh66· 1 day ago
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR - The Temple Of Curved Space (Official Track Stream)
HAIL SPIRIT NOIR
adg211288· 2 days ago
In Sulfur - The Gate (OFFICIAL VIDEO) 2022
IN SULFUR
Bosh66· 2 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed