BOLT THROWER — ...For Victory (review)

BOLT THROWER — ...For Victory album cover Album · 1994 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4.5/5 ·
Warthur
Bolt Thrower's For Victory showcases a somewhat matured band. Lyrically, the focus has moved away from SF/fantasy-influenced invocations of warfare and destruction and focus on a more serious consideration of war and its costs. The title track, for instance, includes extracts from a classic poem that is traditionally read on Remembrance Day here in the UK; delivered in Karl Willett's death metal grunt, the poem somehow manages to retain its air of mourning and nostalgia whilst simultaneously gaining a certain angry undertone - it acknowledges the sacrifices the dead have made, whilst at the same time pointing an accusatory finger at those whose failures and misdeeds made their sacrifices necessary in the first place. (The lyrics regularly make reference to concepts related to World War I, suggesting that that particularly wasteful and disgraceful conflict is in their crosshairs.)

And it's precisely that complex mix of emotions which the musicians as a whole are able to express with their performances. The classic Bolt Thrower aggression is tempered and turned into something a bit more nuanced by nostalgic airs and moments of reflection across the album, which on the whole enable the band to pay a suitable level of respect towards the front-line troops who are so often the heroes of their songs whilst issuing a metallic roar of defiance against the insanity of war in the first place. The end result is a brilliant start to this second, more thoughtful phase of Bolt Thrower's career.
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