BOLT THROWER — Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness (review)

BOLT THROWER — Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness album cover Album · 1989 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
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.
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

Opaque Fixation Death Metal
PRIMAL CODE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Chemical Well Metalcore
OBEYER
Buy this album from MMA partners
Evol Metalcore
SPLICED
Buy this album from MMA partners
Earth​/​Dust Sludge Metal
SAINTSOMBRE
Buy this album from MMA partners
Sanctuary Of Hate Melodic Metalcore
DAWN OF REVENGE
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

DAWN OF REVENGE - Sanctuary [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 2 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Farewell [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 2 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Curtain of Death - [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 2 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - Vengeance [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
Bosh66· 2 days ago
DAWN OF REVENGE - I Need You [official music video]
DAWN OF REVENGE
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