BOLT THROWER — Spearhead / Cenotaph (review)

BOLT THROWER — Spearhead / Cenotaph album cover

Boxset / Compilation · 2018 · Death Metal

3.5/5 · 2023-06-18
UMUR

"Spearhead / Cenotaph" is a compilation album release by UK death metal act Bolt Thrower. The compilation was released through Earache Records in January 2018. It compiles the material from the January 1991 "Cenotaph" EP and the material from the February 1993 "Spearhead" EP. Eight tracks in all and a total playing time of 38:56 minutes. It´s a bit of a puzzle why Earache Records opted to release this compilation as the exact same material plus two additional tracks were already released by Earache Records on the September 1998 "Who Dares Wins" compilation album.

On this compilation the four tracks from the "Spearhead" EP open the release while the four tracks from the "Cenotaph" EP close the compilation, so the material is not presented in chronological order. But that´s the only difference from the "Who Dares Wins" compilation other than the fact that this compilation doesn´t feature the two additional tracks "World Eater '94" and "Overlord". So it´s safe to say that this compilation is pretty redundant and it would make so much better sense to purchase "Who Dares Wins". I´m afraid I have to call moneygrab on this release...

...but there is still material to be described. The first track from the "Spearhead" EP is an extended version of the EP title track, which in its original form was featured on "The IVth Crusade" (November 1992, Earache Records), but here it is two minutes longer than the original version. The two extra minutes don´t do much for the song though, and is basically just two heavy riff sections being played over and over as an outro. "Dying Creed" from "The IVth Crusade" is also included on the EP, but it appears here in exactly the same version as on the album, so it´s mostly featured here as filler, if you already own the album (great song or not). The remaining tracks ("Crown of Life" and "Lament") are outtakes from the "The IVth Crusade" recording sessions. There are really no surprises here if you´re familar with the material on "The IVth Crusade", so it´s basically just more of the same heavy, mid-paced death metal. I don´t think there´s a particular reason why exactly these two tracks weren´t included on the album, as they are of a similar quality and style as the remaining tracks on "The IVth Crusade". "Lament" stands out a bit as it´s a bit more epic in style, but other than that it could well have been included on the full-length album.

As mentioned above the four tracks from the "Cenotaph" EP close the compilation and they are "Cenotaph" which is the album version of the track from "War Master" (February 1991, Earache Records), "Destructive Infinity", "Prophet Of Hatred", and a live version of "Realm Of Chaos". "Destructive Infinity" is an outtake from the September 1990 "War Master" recording sessions (it appears as a bonus track on the CD version of the album), while "Prophet Of Hatred" is an outtake from the July 1989 "Realm of Chaos (Slaves to Darkness)" (October 1989, Earache Records) recording sessions (it appears as a bonus track on the CD version of the album). It has the same gritty sound production and composition style. The live version of "Realm Of Chaos" is a pretty lo-fi and not very well sounding live recording.

So there´s nothing wrong with the material featured on this compilation, but for the reasons described above I can´t recommend a purchase. It simply makes no sense to remove two tracks and reverve the tracklist order and then think that people won´t notice that you´ve already released this compilation once before...and even in a better version featuring more quantity. Judged only by the quality of the material this is a 3.5 star (70%) release, but again I strongly urge you to purchase "Who Dares Wins" and leave this one alone.