### Bolt Thrower: For victory

#### 29/07/09 || Habakuk

##### Introduction

Album number 5 of the British war machine that used to be based on Global Domination and made me discover this site in the first place. “5” as in “V for Victory”, clever huh? Given its quality and the past affiliation of the band and this site, it’s an absolute must that this album is featured in the Class666 section.

##### Songwriting

10. The guys and girl really had their shit together when composing “…for Victory”. They must have been on some creative high by the time so that they didn’t even see the need to incorporate the “WorldEaterCenotaphEmbers”-riff anymore that they had featured on the three previous albums and brought back on “Mercenary”. The total playing time is around 40 minutes, and most of the 10 songs clock in around the 4-minute mark. The exception to the rule is the aptly titled intro “War”. This is not one of those forgettable introductions that have plagued the genre since that one band felt sorry for the kid with the keyboard, but a minute-long instrumental buildup into “Remembrance”, which then opens with an artillery shot (the exact same sample that can be found on numerous Bolt thrower songs…) and kicks in all guns blazing, twisting the strangle grip not giving no mercy. Following this, the tempo slows down a bit, and most of the following songs are executed in fast mid-tempo, spiced up with some speedier outbursts as well as some slower sections that often sport simple yet effective melodies.

The songs stand for themselves quite well, partly due to the fact that almost all of them have a quite memorable intro. Just skip through the album listening to 3 seconds of each song, it’s awesome. Apart from “Forever fallen”, which isn’t exactly flattered by that approach, but otherwise just as good. To sum things up in adequately belligerent fashion, the album ends with two more artillery shots (Guess which sample they used…).

Bolt thrower haven’t brought back the blast beats last featured on “War master”, but then again, who needs blast beats if they back up their decision to get rid of them with enough kick-ass riffing and awesome melodies to pack an entire album with? No-one, that’s who. Yep, no fillers are served here, instead we get quality through and through, so I won’t even bother to try and look for highlights. Another good approach to enjoy this album apart from that introduced above is to start at 00:00:00 and press “Play”.

##### Production

Quite unique and quite good at the same time. Guitars sound as heavy and meaty as they can and the bass lays a solid foundation buzzing in the background (a sound they later perfected on “Those once loyal”), together forming Bolt Thrower’s trademark wall of sound that relentlessly pushes forward to surround you completely. What makes the album stick out from the lot is that heaviness does not come at the expense of a clear sound. You can perfectly make out what’s going on, but at the same time it all grinds like there’s no tomorrow. Sound-wise, mind you, their songwriting stopped being grindy a long time before they wrote this. They had already found their formula for guitar and bass sound on “The IVth crusade”, but what has improved a great deal on “…for Victory” is the drum production, which sounds a lot fuller and thicker than ever before.

##### Guitars

10. Majestic melodies are something you’d expect on your daily dose of power metal, the Bolts however know how to twist those around and give them an edge that makes them fit perfectly on a Death Metal album. Lead sections and solos both have long strayed away from the chaotic realms they used to delve in, taking a more serious approach at creating atmosphere than on earlier records. Only rarely do both guitars wander off into double lead sections, but mostly does one do the dirty work down on the ground, while the other one hovers above, oftentimes accentuating the breaks in the vocal delivery. The rest of the time, both produce riffs like avalanches. Metal avalanches!

##### Vocals

9. I remember reading somewhere that Karl Willets was in singer school or something as a kid, and it shows in the fact that you can actually understand what he’s singing about, because he knows how to pronounce words in a song. Now that doesn’t mean he’s going all Soprano on us, be advised. In fact he shows off some pretty bad-ass deep growl, just comprehensibly. It doesn’t get much better, really, but on the closer “Armageddon bound” he changes his vocals a little bit, switching to a slightly higher voice – supposedly to make the it sound more intense. For some people that works out, for some it doesn’t work at all. I’m a bit stuck in the middle, detracting one point to soothe the nay-sayers.

##### Bass

7. It’s definitely there, and it’s pretty gritty, but it’s tough to shine for a bassplayer on an album with two guitars tuned like Baz’ and Gav’s. On “Those once loyal”, Jo Bench managed just that, but here, she basically just adds another couple of bricks into the wall, and it’s good to have them there. Just don’t expect anything too remarkable.

##### Drums

7. Drummer Andy Whale used to be a bit of a weak spot on earlier records, which, as some say, contributed to their charm quite a bit. Now it’s not like he turned into a drum god over night, but this whole argument has been made quite obsolete for victory (hah!), since he manages to deliver a pretty tight performance here. While that might be a slight change to the early days, he’s still pulling off his trademark snare roll fill quite number of times. Apart from that, he pretty much nails what he’s trying to do, which is nothing spectacular, but solid double-bass work and groovy, effective and to-the-point drumming.

##### Lyrics

10. Bolt thrower has always been a band that is centered around one thing: War. On “…For victory”, they dumped all the dark future Science-Fiction references they used to convey their theme until “The IVth crusade”, making this album seem a lot more mature without changing a working formula much. Plus, unlike a lot of other metal songwriters that choose war as their topic, the Bolts do not succumb into the kind of historical nerdery that consists of rambling on about some war operation that they’ve read everything about in their collection of history picture-books. That can even be pulled off reasonably well, but there’s a better way to do it. Add the “…for Victory” booklet to your literature list for the next one, little Sabaton. No “Nazi-Panzer smashes quickly through the front and kills a lot because it is hard metal”-shit is to be found here. Instead, this album brings forwars lyrics that have some thought put into them, with the overall topic being man trapped in the insanity of war, something that is all too human and inhuman at the same time.

“As fire fills the sky We once believed in life Now time to die …For victory

Now in deaths glory Mans final destiny The final price to pay …For victory”

Fun fact: On reading the songtitles you’ll find that death and remembrance play a big role, and it is quite obvious Bolt thrower drew some of their inspiration in that respect from the ANZAC, quoting “Lest we forget” by Laurence Binyon twice throughout the album.

##### Cover art

9. Silhouettes of British soldiers in the Falklands War in front of a sunset. How’s that for a history lesson? Badass, you say, and I agree. However, the really good thing about this album cover is, it fits the overall feel of the album perfectly. Listen to the start of the title track, look at the cover, rejoice. The backcover doesn’t look so good, I gotta admit. Look at it while listening to Hammerfall.

##### Logo

5. It’s fairly heavy as it is obviously made of stone. ‘Tis a bit stuck in their old gothic Games Workshop imagery, though. Getting rid of some stained glass to make it look less like a fucken cathedral was a good choice. Eleven years later.

##### Booklet

6. At the moment, my copy is lying on the other side of the world, but I think I remember some ugly font and greenish color choice inside. I might be wrong, but then again, I don’t remember anything particularly good about the booklet, so I guess I’m being generous here. Anyway, it’s got the lyrics and everything…

##### Overall and ending rant

“…for Victory” showcases a matured band that has evolved naturally, has found its perfect sound and produced a milestone of epic death metal in the process. Although it probably served as an inspiration to many bands, this album stands unmatched until today.

- Information
- Released: 1994
- Label: Earache
- Website: www.boltthrower.com
- Band
- Karl Willetts: vocals
- Baz Thompson: guitars
- Gavin Ward: guitars
- Jo Bench: bass
- Andy Whale: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. War
- 02. Remembrance
- 03. When glory beckons
- 04. …for victory
- 05. Graven image
- 06. Lest we forget
- 07. Silent demise
- 08. Forever
- 09. Tank (Mk.1)
- 10. Armageddon bound