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Bolt Thrower

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This article is about the death metal band. For the weapon sometimes called a bolt thrower, see Ballista.
Bolt Thrower

Bolt Thrower are a death metal band from Coventry, England. They formed in 1986 and released their first album with Vinyl Solution in 1988. They then shifted to a new record label, Earache Records, soon becoming one of the best selling bands on that label. Their current label is Metal Blade Records. The band has had a succession of members and have toured Europe, the United States and Australia.

The band takes its name from a weapon in the popular tabletop strategy game Warhammer Fantasy Battle. The lyrics and artwork of their second and third album were based on Warhammer as well as its futuristic companion Warhammer 40,000, with much of the art actually being provided by the game's publisher, Games Workshop. The general theme of their lyrics is war and its consequences.

History

Early history: 1986-1988

Bolt Thrower were formed in September 1986 as a hardcore and thrash metal band, influenced largely by thrash bands such as Slayer and hardcore punk bands like Crass and Discharge[1]. The band was founded by bassist Gavin Ward and guitarist Barry Thompson in a Coventry pub toilet during a hardcore punk gig. Shortly thereafter Andrew Whale and Alan West joined on drums and vocals respectively. In April 1987 the In Battle There Is No Law demo was recorded with this line-up.

Their second recording was the Concession of Pain demo, which they made in September of 1987. Gavin had switched to guitars and they recruited Alex Tweedy to play the bass. However, Alex did not show up for the recording, and so Gavin played both guitar and bass for the demo. Two weeks after the recording session, Gavin's girlfriend Jo Bench replaced Tweedy.

With this line-up they recorded their first Peel session on January 3, 1988, with John Peel, the alternative disk jockey of BBC Radio One[2]. He had received their second demo and became enthusiastic about the band. They recorded four tracks for it, resulting in a deal with Vinyl Solution to release one album. Just before the recording of their first full-length album, they replaced their singer with their driver Karl Willetts. Their debut LP, In Battle there is no Law is only a half hour in length and has a primitive and raw sound.

1989-1994

The cover of the 1989 album Realm of Chaos, similar to the cover of Rogue Trader, the first edition of Warhammer 40,000

They were not satisfied with the deal with Vinyl Solution as it was a pure hardcore label at that time. The label did little promotion for Bolt Thrower and their blend of death metal and hardcore punk, so after one album Bolt Thrower decided to leave Vinyl Solution and were signed by Earache Records. Earache Records had also signed many other death metal bands including Carcass and Napalm Death. The band worked a little on their style and changed to playing faster, more aggressive and powerful songs, becoming more of a deathgrind band. The production of this album was not great, though it was an improvement on previous attempts. The artwork was done by Games Workshop (they produce games such as Warhammer) as a gaming supplement they produced had a similar name to the album Bolt Thrower was about to release. After Games Workshop heard the recording of the songs for Bolt Thrower's second Peel session, which was recorded on 6 November 1988[2], they offered to do the expensive artwork for Bolt Thrower's album. The band accepted this offer. The record was released in 1989 with the title of Realm of Chaos and with the subtitle Slaves To Darkness. Most of the lyrics to the songs were also influenced by the game, but not merely because of the deal with Games Workshop. Karl, Andy and Gavin were very much into the games Games Workshop produced and they wrote a couple of songs about these games. Some obvious examples are "Plague Bearer" and "World Eater". Most lyrics can however be projected on war, the general theme Bolt Thrower uses. After the recording of Realm of Chaos they went on the Grindcrusher Tour with label mates Napalm Death, Carcass and Morbid Angel. On the Cenotaph EP one song ("Realm of Chaos") appears that is recorded during this tour. This EP also features the two CD-bonus tracks from War Master and Realm of Chaos plus the song "Cenotaph".

Continuing, they recorded their third and final Peel session on 22 July, 1990[2]. On this three songs from the upcoming album were performed in raw versions as well as "Lost Souls Domain" off Realm Of Chaos. Next step in the history of Bolt Thrower was the album titled War Master. This album is very ingenious, they took out the grindcore influences becoming more death metal band. They put in some more skills in playing and making it all sound far more sophisticated. And this time the production was done skilfully. It was recorded, as the previous album in the Slaughterhouse studios, which burned down two weeks after the recordings were completed. Again Games Workshop offered to do their artwork; however as it was considered too expensive, Bolt Thrower declined the offer. The former head-designer of Games Workshop would do the artwork, resulting in quite similar artwork as that of Realm of Chaos. For the U.S. tour they did to promote the War Master album, they used an old US school bus as tour bus, loaded with many computer games. All three Peel Sessions were then released on one CD named The Peel Sessions 1988-90 in 1991.

Their next step was the albumThe IVth Crusade. The title has a double meaning, as it was their fourth studio album (not counting the Peel sessions), but the album title also refers to the Fourth Crusade and the capturing of Constantinople. The cover artwork is a painting from Eugène Delacroix, showing "The Entry of the Crusaders in Constantinople".

They downtuned their guitars even more and wrote slower songs which were heavier and more bombastic. It leans more towards doom metal influenced by bands like Candlemass, in combination with their own massive death metal sound. The album was followed by the tour World Crusade with the Polish death metal act Vader and the Swedish death metal band Grave in Europe. The band toured the US again as well as Australia. During this time a single was released called Spearhead containing a very heavy, extended remix of the CD track "Spearhead" plus two new tracks and "Dying Creed" off the album.

File:Btlogo.png
Band logo

Classic line-up (from 1988 to 1994):

  • Karl Willetts : Vocals
  • Gavin Ward : Guitar
  • Barry Thompson : Guitar
  • Jo Bench : Bass guitar
  • Andy Whale : Drums

Their next album is called ...For Victory and was released in 1994. It was the final album with Karl Willetts and Andrew Whale. Both left the band because of changing life directions[3]. The latest American tour did not go well, they returned home prematurely and by this time the band was quite fed-up with touring. They too made a partial return to their Hardcore/thrash metal roots, whilst not forgetting their doom influences, though the vocals tended to sound a bit different: less growling, but more hardcore punk styled; they were somewhat more like hoarse screaming, especially on "When Glory Beckons" and "Armageddon Bound". A limited edition of the album exists containing a bonus Live CD, called War (sometimes called "Live War"). After the album release Karl Willetts was replaced by Dutchman Martin van Drunen, and Martin Kearns, who took over the drum kit.

1995 to present

File:Band17.jpg
Bolt Thrower in 2001

In 1995 and 1996 the band did two European tours[4]. Then in 1997, Martin van Drunen decided to leave the band again as he had never felt he really became a part of Bolt Thrower, and also because he got a disease that made his hair fall out due to which he felt insecure on stage[5]. For at least one show in Germany long time friend Dave Ingram stood in. Martin Kearns decided to leave again. The position at the drum kit is now taken by Alex Thomas. Karl Willetts temporarily rejoined the band to do the vocal duties on the next album. The band switched record labels from Earache to Metal Blade Records, because since the US ...For Victory tour they had seen a lack of success with Earache. Earache had also wanted to get rid of them and Bolt Thrower wanted to leave Earache as soon as possible, so they parted company.

The album titled Mercenary was released on 8 September 1998 in Europe and on 10 November 1998 in the USA, and features 9 tracks. It is over all a bit slower than its predecessors. However, it is definitely very heavy and sounds very much Bolt Thrower. And Karl returned to perform his previous style of singing; the hardcore punk influences have disappeared again. After the album recording, Karl left the band again and the band have recruited Dave Ingram permanently after he left Benediction.

In November 1998, Earache Records released Who Dares Wins, an album featuring various older recordings, including the songs from the Spearhead EP and Cenotaph EP. The band themselves do not agree with the release this album, as it is a cheap cash-in from Earache and they warn not to buy it. Originally, it was titled No Guts - No Glory but the title was changed because one song on Mercenary has the same title and Metal Blade objected. Following the release of the album a European tour was done, called Into the Killing Zone with Dave Ingram on vocals[4].

After a short European tour in 2001 (only 5 dates)[4], they started to work on a new album. Honour - Valour - Pride was released in late 2001 on Metal Blade and shows a progression from the direction taken on Mercenary. It contains 9 tracks; the digipak has one bonus track. Martin Kearns is now back with the band after he settled his things in his life. Alex Thomas departed since he lacked interest in the musical direction of Bolt Thrower.

In 2004 the band began working on new material for their latest album. They intended to record it in the May of 2004, with the release set to the end of the year by Metal Blade. Meanwhile a European tour and a US tour were prepared. Unfortunately, right before the recording could begin, Dave Ingram decided to leave, due to health and personal issues[6]. This put off the new record and tours, and priority was set to finding a new singer. On 18 November 2004, the band announced the return of Karl Willetts. Recording of the album, titled Those Once Loyal, started in May 2005; it was released on 11 November in Germany, 14 November in the rest of Europe and 15 November in the USA 2005. It has been met with widespread critical acclaim from magazines such as Rock Sound, Rock Hard and Metal Hammer. A European tour followed in January and February 2006[4] A second leg followed in April, with dates in Scandinavia, UK, Spain and more[4]. A US tour was planned to take place later in the year, however lack of financial support from the label forced the band to cancel these plans[7]. The band are now considering leaving Metal Blade, although they are currently continuing to work on an (as yet untitled) new album. [7].

Meanwhile, Earache has coincided the release of Those Once Loyal with a re-release of the Realm of Chaos featuring new artwork. The band encourage people not to buy it as (like Who Dares Wins) it was released without their consultation let alone consent. Furthermore, it has been alleged that the band has not received royalties from Earache for a number of years[8].

Members

Current line-up

Former members

Discography

Demos

  • In Battle There Is No Law (self-released cassette, 1987)
  • Concession Of Pain (self-released cassette, 1987)

Studio Albums

Live and compilation albums

Video clips

  • "The IVth Crusade" (1992)
  • "...For Victory" (1998)
  • "Inside the Wire" (2000)
  • "Cenotaph" (2001)

Audio files (mp3)

Miscellanea

  • Bong-Ra, a popular artist from the hardcore/breakcore electronic music genre, released an LP in 2005 titled Grindkrusher. It almost exclusively features samples and remixes of various Bolt Thrower recordings, as well as a song entitled Jo Bench.
  • Dev/Null made a song called "Bolt Thrower in a Chinese Restaurant". It is not sure whether there is any definite link.
  • A Bolt Thrower Tribute project was created in the late 1980s. One tape was produced titled 'Colt-Thrower - Under the Sign of the Black Horse' It was released on cassette only, and 30 copies were produced. The idea was a Christmas present to the band members. It consists of the tracks "Intro", "Through the Eye of Jap", "Dwarf in Torment" and "Outro".
  • Wesley Willis made a song called "Bolt Thrower" on the album Rock & Roll Will Never Die!
  • The Japanese grindcore band Butcher ABC used the Bolt Thrower band logo for the promotional poster of Maryland Deathfest 2006.
  • Jo Bench performed spoken word lyrics as a guest in the The Project Hate MCMXCIX song "Resurrected for Massive Torture" on their album Armageddon March Eternal (Symphonies of Slit Wrists).

References

  1. ^ "Bolt Thrower Official Biography". Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  2. ^ a b c "BBC - Radio 1 - Keeping it PeelArtist A-Z". Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  3. ^ "BOLT THROWER Working On New Material - Feb. 12, 2007" (HTML). Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Bolt Thrower: Past Tours" (HTML). Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  5. ^ "Interview with Martin van Drunen in Voices from the Darkside" (HTML). Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  6. ^ "BOLT THROWER Part Ways With Singer, Seek Replacement - Sep. 1, 2004" (HTML). Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  7. ^ a b "Metal Review interview with Karl Willetts of Bolt Thrower". Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  8. ^ "BOLT THROWER Condemn EARACHE 'Realm of Chaos' Reissue - Nov. 19, 2005" (HTML). Retrieved 2007-03-04.
  • Sharpe-Young, Garry (2003). Rockdetector: A-Z of Death Metal. Cherry Red. ISBN 1-901447-35-9.
  • Christe, Ian (2003). Sound of the Beast : The Complete Headbanging History of Heavy Metal. Harper Entertainment. ISBN 0-06-052362-X.
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