Bolt Thrower - In Battle There Is No Law (1988)

For those of you who haven't heard of Bolt Thrower, they are a 5 piece Death Metal/Grindcore band from Coventry, England who formed in 1986. They consist of Karl Willetts (Vocals), Barry Thompson (Guitar), Gavin Ward (Guitar), Jo-Anne Bench (Bass), and Martin "Kiddie" Kearns (Drums). They originally got their name from a weapon used in the tabletop strategy game of Warhammer Fantasy Battle. They are currently signed to Metal Blade Records.

In Battle There Is No Law is Bolt Thrower's first album, which was preceded by 4 demo albums and 1 EP. The album consists of 9 tracks which include "In Battle There Is No Law", "Challenge for Power", "Forgotten Existence", "Denial of Destiny", "Blind to Defeat", "Concession of Pain", "Attack in the Aftermath", "Psychological Warfare", and "Nuclear Annihilation". The album was recorded with most of their current line-up, except instead of Martin Kearns, they had Andrew Whale on the drums. The album overall is quite different from other Grindcore albums around this time (mainly, Napalm Death's album Scum), in that while Napalm Death was (and still is) fast paced and constantly spitting out the vocals at you, Bolt Thrower takes a slower approach to their tracks. They start slow and then progressively speed up (this is more evident on their later albums, mainly 1992's album "The IVth Crusade"). I'm still surprised that this album was released in 1988, as Karl sounds more and more like the modern day Death Metal bands, his growl is low and purposeful (if a growl can be that). The guitars on the album mix so well together as well. The drums were really loud (mainly the bass drum) but they didn't overpower the mix. The bass is extremely well done, and (little bit of a fact here) Jo-Anne Bench is one of the first female Death Metal musicians (not a screamer, but still a part of the Death Metal scene). The album just kicked ass.

Overall, an extremely well done first album in a time when the genre was first emerging. If you're into Napalm Death, Obituary, Unleashed, Benediction, Dismember, Grave, or Hail of Bullets, you should check out Bolt Thrower. The album was released on June 12, 1988 and is available on amazon (although not currently available) and iTunes.

Overall Rating: 4.4 out of 5.0

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Bolt Thrower's Website