War Master | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 4 February 1991 [1] | |||
Recorded | Slaughterhouse Studios, September 1990 | |||
Genre | Death metal | |||
Length | 46:03 | |||
Label | Earache, Combat | |||
Producer | Colin Richardson | |||
Bolt Thrower chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
Record-Journal | C+ [3] |
War Master is the third album by British death metal band Bolt Thrower. It was recorded at Slaughterhouse studios in September 1990 and produced by Bolt Thrower and Colin Richardson. It was released on Earache Records: Mosh 29 in 1991.
Whereas Realm of Chaos was dominated by grindcore based blasts and riffs, this album abandons most of the grindcore influences for a sound that is more strictly death metal. Moreover, there is more melody in the music and the guitar solos, although some chaotic solos remain. This is also the final Bolt Thrower album to feature the blast beat style of drumming (which can be heard on four songs – "Unleashed (Upon Mankind)", "What Dwells Within", "War Master", and "Afterlife"), before it was abandoned and subsequently never used thereafter in the Bolt Thrower discography.
"Cenotaph" is a thematic continuation of the song "World Eater" from the previous record. The closing riff from "World Eater" is the same as the opening riff from "Cenotaph" and also used in "Embers" from The IVth Crusade, "Powder Burns" from Mercenary and "The Killchain" from Those Once Loyal.
The album was extensively sampled on Dutch breakcore producer Bong-Ra's album Full Metal Racket, with allusions also including song titles such as "Bloody Cenotaph" and "Jo Bench". [4]
All songs written by Bolt Thrower.
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
1. | "Intro... Unleashed (Upon Mankind)" | 6:13 |
2. | "What Dwells Within" | 4:18 |
3. | "The Shreds of Sanity" | 3:26 |
4. | "Profane Creation" | 5:32 |
5. | "Destructive Infinity" (CD bonus track) | 4:14 |
6. | "Final Revelation" | 3:55 |
7. | "Cenotaph" | 4:03 |
8. | "War Master" | 4:17 |
9. | "Rebirth of Humanity" | 4:01 |
10. | "Afterlife" | 5:59 |
Total length: | 46:03 |
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Bolt Thrower was a British death metal band from Coventry. They formed in 1986 and released their first album with Vinyl Solution in 1988. The band then shifted to a new record label, Earache Records, soon becoming one of the best selling bands on that label. Their last label was Metal Blade Records. The band had a succession of members, and had toured Europe, the United States, and Australia. Over the course of their 30-year career, Bolt Thrower released eight studio albums, three EPs, one live album, three compilation albums and two demos. Their albums have sold over 100,000 copies in the United States as of 2005.
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