BOLT THROWER — Who Dares Wins (review)

BOLT THROWER — Who Dares Wins album cover

Boxset / Compilation · 1998 · Death Metal

3.5/5 · 2023-06-13
UMUR

"Who Dares Wins" is a compilation album by UK death metal act Bolt Thrower. The compilation was released through Earache Records in September 1998. It´s a relatively controversial release as it was released by Earache Records without the consent of Bolt Thrower, who at that point had signed to Metal Blade Records and would soon release their sixth full-length studio album "Mercenary" (November 1998).

"Who Dares Wins" compiles the material from the January 1991 "Cenotaph" EP, the material from the February 1993 "Spearhead" EP, and the two bonus tracks from the Japanese version of "...For Victory" (November 1994, Earache Records). The two latter had also been released on the "Rareache" compilation album, which was an anniversary box set with various artists that Earache Records put out. "Who Dares Wins" features ten tracks and a total playing time of 49:40 minutes.

The four tracks from the "Cenotaph" EP open the compilation and 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.

The four tracks from the "Spearhead" EP follow. The first track from the 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.

The two last tracks are the two bonus tracks from the Japanese version of "...For Victory". The first is a re-recording of "World Eater" (titled "World Eater '94"), which in its original form appeared on "Realm of Chaos (Slaves to Darkness)". The re-recording is a heavy, brutal, and updated version of the track, and it´s a killer re-recording. "Overlord" is more or less what you´d expect an outtake/single B-side from the "...For Victory" sessions would sound like. It´s a good quality Bolt Thrower track, but nothing out of the ordinary. Although this compilation was alledgedly released without the consent of the band, it´s still a good quality compilation loaded with rarity (and predominantly killer) material, which fans of the early albums should be able to enjoy greatly. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.