Vim Fuego This is one of the heaviest albums ever recorded. The guitars are tuned down to bass frequencies. In the recording of this album, the bass was tuned down so far at one point the strings would not vibrate. Even Karl Willett's vocals have been electronically lowered by a harmonizer. The result is an album of subterranean, subsonic depth.

Despite the enormous sound Bolt Thrower produce, their riffs always remain clear, and the drums snappy. There is double kick bass abuse throughout the album, one of Bolt Thrower's trademarks. The songs are catchy, and have an almost sing–a–long quality, unusual for the grindcore genre. “World Eater” and the title track standing out as classic tracks from the album, and it is not unusual to find yourself growling along, Willett–style, hours after hearing these songs.

The subject matter is the Bolt Thrower staple– war, well embellished by amazing artwork from the Games Workshop. This was Bolt Thrower's last grindcore release before they strayed toward the death metal stylings of their subsequent albums. This album is a landmark for extreme music. At a time when Carcass, Napalm Death, Righteous Pigs, Terrorizer, and Extreme Noise Terror were noisily trying to break the speed of sound, only Bolt Thrower and Godflesh were truly exploring the sonic possibilities of creating massive walls of sound, rather than being noisy.

There should be a picture of this album under the definition of "heavy" in the dictionary.

Warthur Pandering to fellow Games Workshop enthusiasts with the Warhammer 40,000-inspired cover art and lyrics, Bolt Thrower's Realm of Chaos might have its origins in the band's hobbyist interests but the album itself is 100% professional, a significant advance in production values, songwriting and musicianship over the preceding album. Blending their death metal style with influences from grindcore and pummelling the listener with furious blast beats and gutteral vocals, the band set out to create mayhem equal to - and if possible exceeding - that depicted in the cover art, and they succeed marvellously, creating a highlight of late 1980s British extreme metal.

UMUR "Realm of Chaos" (subtitled "Slaves to Darkness") is the 2nd full-length studio album by UK death metal act Bolt Thrower. The album was released through Earache Records in October 1989. The original LP release featured a gatefold sleeve and an extensive booklet with lyrics and pictures. A lavish package featuring a distinct looking Warhammer 40K inspired cover artwork created by Games Workshop. A classic death metal cover artwork from those days. Later pressings did not feature the gatefold sleeve nor the extensive booklet. Only a lyric insert. "Realm of Chaos" was also released on limited edition coloured vinyl and in a picture-disc format. The album was reissued on the CD format in 1995 with the bonus track "Prophet of Hatred". Earache Records reissued the album again in 2005 featuring a new cover artwork and that version sparked some controversy as the band have released a statement that encourages fans not to buy it, because they will not receive royalties from the sales.

Stylistically "Realm of Chaos" is a combination of blasting deathgrind and mid-paced old school death metal. It´s the Bolt Thrower album that features most fast-paced parts and there´s clear evolution in speed since "In Battle There is No Law (1988)". The latter also featured fast-paced parts, but they are more dominant on "Realm of Chaos". The lyrical themes are as usual exploring war, darkness, and chaos.

The album is very consistent, both in style and in sound, and all material on the album are of good quality. It´s powerful, raw, and brutal. Tracks like "Eternal War", "Lost Souls Domain", "Drowned in Torment", and especially the brilliant "World Eater" are good examples of how the album sounds. The musicianship have become much better than on the not so well played debut album "In Battle There is No Law (1988)", but there´s still a way to go before I would call Bolt Thrower a tight playing unit. The sound production isn´t the best either but it´s acceptable and I do enjoy the album´s raw and noisy sound to some extent.

Upon conclusion "Realm of Chaos" is a great sophomore album release by Bolt Thrower and while it certainly isn´t a flawless album there are still enough qualities on the album to warrant a 3.5 star (70%) rating.

Time Signature Realm of metal...

Genre: death metal / grindcore

Let me be honest. I don't think this is a very good album. I know, how dare I? I usually upset people when giving my opinion on Bolt Thrower's early releases. Allow me to elaborate.

"Realm of Chaos" is actually full of good ideas. There are a lot of nteresting break-downs and build-ups and riffage galore. There's nothing as such wrong in the creativity department. The problem is that the level of musicianship is not high enough to carry the ideas, and the performance is quite sloppy overall. The guitars are out of sync more than once, and the drumming is clumsy and untight. A lot of the double bass drum work sounds like a bag of potatoes falling down the stairs, and the blast beats are extremely imprecise.

That being said, "Realm of Chaos" is an original album, and it does present Bolt Thrower's trademark heavy style of death metal, which would be perfected on "The IVth Crusade".

Fans of early death metal and grindcore would probably like this album, and it is worth a listen because of the many good ideas.