BOLT THROWER — The IVth Crusade (review)

BOLT THROWER — The IVth Crusade album cover Album · 1992 · Death Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"The IVth Crusade" is the 4th full-length studio album by UK death metal act Bolt Thrower. The album was released through Earache Records in September 1992. It´s the successor to "War Master" from 1991. Both "Realm of Chaos (1989)" and "War Master (1991)" helped put Bolt Thrower on the map and made them one of the most prolific death metal acts on the UK scene of the late 80s/early 90s. "The IVth Crusade" further strengthened their position and ultimately was a great artistic and commercial success for the band (in underground terms of course).

"The IVth Crusade" is where Bolt Thrower really came into their own. The first three albums are quite different in sound and style, and in retrospect it´s obvious that the band worked hard on creating their own distinct sound on the early releases. "War Master (1991)" came close, but it´s on "The IVth Crusade" that Bolt Thrower found the right combination of ultra heavy mid-paced riffs and rhythms, deep growling vocals, and war themed lyrics, paired with a powerful and raw sound production, which works perfectly with the material.

The 11 tracks on the 53:30 minutes long album are all consistent in quality and style. The only track which is different from the rest is the closing track "Through the Ages", which features spoken words instead of growling vocals, with Karl Willetts reciting names and years of different wars. So it´s an album where it´s difficult to mention highlights, but the epic opening to the title track is always a winner. "Celestial Sanctuary" could also be mentioned as a standout track, because of the melodic chorus and the catchy vocal lines during that chorus. A bit more variation between tracks could generally have made the album a more interesting listening experience, but it´s not a major issue.

"The IVth Crusade" is upon conclusion the next natural step in Bolt Thrower´s career and overall a quality old school death metal release. As mentioned above a bit more variation could have made it even better, but as it is it´s still a quality release and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.
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