III: The Rommel Chronicles

Last updated
III: The Rommel Chronicles
Rommel chronicles.gif
Studio album by
Released28 October 2013
Genre Death metal
Length45:48
Label Metal Blade Records
Hail of Bullets chronology
On Divine Winds
(2010)
III: The Rommel Chronicles
(2013)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
About.com Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Allmusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Exclaim! 8/10 [3]

III: The Rommel Chronicles is the third and final full-length studio album by Hail of Bullets, an old school death metal band formed by current and former members of Asphyx and Gorefest. It continues the band's conceptual focus upon the Second World War, with the album theme revolving around the life of German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel.

Hail of Bullets Dutch death metal band

Hail of Bullets was a Dutch old school death metal supergroup from Rotterdam. The band's lyrical content deals with the Second World War, and is based upon the research of vocalist Martin van Drunen, who has been described as the band's "resident historian". The band has released three albums via Metal Blade Records.

Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, aggressive, powerful drumming featuring double kick and blast beat techniques, minor keys or atonality, abrupt tempo, key, and time signature changes, and chromatic chord progressions. The lyrical themes of death metal may invoke slasher film-stylized violence, religion, occultism, Lovecraftian horror, nature, mysticism, mythology, philosophy, science fiction, and politics, and they may describe extreme acts, including mutilation, dissection, torture, rape, cannibalism, and necrophilia.

Asphyx band

Asphyx is a Dutch death metal band that was formed in Overijssel, Netherlands in 1987.

Contents

Concept

Unlike previous Hail of Bullet albums, which focused on a particular theatre of World War II, the band's third album focused on German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Drummer Ed Warby suggested that the African theatre "seemed like the most logical subject to tackle, but we didn't want to do another concept album just like the previous two. So Martin [van Drunen, vocals] came up with the idea to focus on Rommel instead, which enabled us to incorporate Africa into the story yet broaden the scope significantly". [4] While the band was initially concerned about writing an album focused on Rommel, fearing "possibility of a ban in Germany, or a backlash from the anti-fascism movement", Warby contended that "anyone with half a brain can tell we're not glorifying a Nazi here". [4]

Erwin Rommel German field marshal of World War II

Johannes Erwin Eugen Rommel was a German general and military theorist. Popularly known as the Desert Fox, he served as field marshal in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II, as well as serving in the Reichswehr of the Weimar Republic, and the army of Imperial Germany.

Ed Warby Dutch metal drummer

Edward R. Warby was born and raised in Rotterdam and is best known as the drummer for Gorefest and Ayreon.

North African Campaign military campaign of World War II

The North African Campaign of the Second World War took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria, as well as Tunisia.

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Swoop of the Falcon"5:20
2."Pour le Mérite"4:14
3."DG-7"6:25
4."To the Last Breath of Man and Beast"3:11
5."DAK"3:45
6."The Desert Fox"5:20
7."Tobruk"4:26
8."Farewell to Africa"2:51
9."The Final Front"4:45
10."Death of a Field Marshal"5:31
Total length:45:48

Personnel

Martin van Drunen Dutch metal singer

Martin van Drunen is a Dutch death metal vocalist, who started out in the band Pestilence. In this band, he also performed the bass duties live. He recorded two albums with them, Malleus Maleficarum and Consuming Impulse. After his departure from Pestilence, he joined Asphyx as the singer and bass player in 1990. For this band he recorded two albums as well. He performed the vocals on Comecon's second album Converging Conspiracies in 1993 and then formed his own band called Submission. In 1995, he was asked to replace Karl Willetts in the UK death metal band Bolt Thrower. He did two tours with them, but never recorded an album.

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References

  1. Hinch, Matt. "Hail Of Bullets - III: The Rommel Chronicles Review". About.com . Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  2. Heaney, Gregory. "Hail of Bullets III: The Rommel Chronicles". Allmusic . Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  3. Pratt, Greg. "Hail of BulletsIII: The Rommel Chronicles". Exclaim! . Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  4. 1 2 Jamie. "Interview – Hail Of Bullets". Ave Noctum. Retrieved 6 February 2014.