I tried to make it sound like "I don't like them" instead of "they are shit". I know especially TOL gets tons of praise, and there is probably a reason for that. I'm just a bit surprised that I absolutely can't understand that praise. Usually my opinion on certain albums is surprisingly similar to the reviews on here, but not this time.

It is a little weird, but I kind of get it, I suppose. I do feel like TOL was A LOT of people's first exposure to Bolt Thrower on these boards and it just rubs a lot of people the wrong way. Plus it's weird because they are like...one of three bands that more or less get universally praised - whatever phenomenon that is...

Well ok, I get it. No need to smash my head into it

I was just bumping this the other day. Probably my favourite Bolt Thrower album, though I tend to change my mind between this, Those Once Loyal, and For Victory. This has to be their most savage and Eternal War, Through the Eyes of Terror, and World Eater are immortal classics.

Don't forget the SICK second riff that opens Lost Souls Domain. One of the heaviest, grooviest chugs ever recorded.

As for the Those Once Loyal love... I don't know. For the most part I find all the post-Realm of Chaos albums pretty much on a level. It's all the same style and execution, it just depends on which set of riffs you like the most. TOL's production is killer; the bass sounds great, so there's that going for it. My personal favourite post-RoC is definitely the underappreciated and much maligned Mercenary. Every song is memorable and groovy. NEVER understood why it gets so much flak. To compare, I find the riffs and songs of IVth Crusade and ...For Victory to be a lot more repetitive for example.

I'd never heard of Bolt Thrower before The IVth Crusade, that album was in all the magazines I was buying at the time, also I just realised it's their IVth album too

I'm gonna have to agree, TOL is kind of boring, IMO. It's still a solid Bolt Thrower album, but it's never the album I go to when I wanna hear BT. That's usually reserved for ...In Battle (love the crusty sound on this album) and Realm of Chaos.

This album was so far ahead of its time that it still sounds unreal to me.

In regards to Those Once Loyal, I've always felt that while it is a great album musically - one of my favourite Bolt Thrower records - some of the real beauty of it comes from the execution, as much as the substance. It's as how God-damn well it's done in terms of tightness and production, as much as what it is that is specifically being done. That said, I'd venture to say it's the most musically diverse album the band did post-Warmaster.

I've thought ...For Victory is underrated. Some of the riffs and grooves just take over your whole body. Then again it was my first BT album.

That's how i feel as well. The grooves in songs like Forever Fallen and the title track are insane, and the ridiculously heavy production compliments it perfectly

For Victory was my first BT album as well and also my favorite. It's a monster with such awesome grooves. "Lest We Forget" crushes.

Realm Of Chaos is the best BT album, truly a death metal classic. That being said, i find World Eater the most overrated BT song, it's not bad but i prefer the other tracks on the album.

i think i'd rank ...for victory second only to those once loyal

Upon further listening, I've concluded that Mercenary and Honor, Valour, Pride are two albums definitely superior to TOL. I've listened to it a few times today and it seems like it is stuck in one gear, in regards to tempo and variety of riffs, whereas the other two have a greater arrangement of riffs, interesting display of vocals and an awesome amount of tempo shifts. If we could get the next album to sound more like these two, we'd be in for a treat.

TOL is still an awesome album, but you can only spin certain albums a certain amount of times.

interesting... for me those two are the weakest... tho' in honor, valor, pride's case it's a lot to do with the vocals - i just need karl in my bolt thrower

Those Once Loyal has some really cool stuff going on but I was put off by the sound for a long time after buying it. It still sounds kind of soft and pillowy to me.

I agree that the guitars on Those Once Loyal could be a lot heavier but I think the album still has a lot going for it. The one-two punch of "At First Light/Entrenched" is pretty freakin' incredible and there is more diversity in the songwriting than there has been for awhile. Love the bass tone too.

Fuck, I need to follow the Metal Discussion subforum more closely. Totally missed this anniversary. Definitely an all-time favorite of mine, and easily my favorite grindcore influenced death metal record (closely followed by Symphonies of Sickness and World Downfall. 1989 fuck yeah). Completely, off-the-charts-massive, killer riffs right from the start (holy shit that opener). Btw there's a World Eater tab on ultimate-guitar.com made by me.

Putting this on right fucking now. Those Once Loyal is to Realm of Chaos what lager is to single malt. Cheers.

Through man's existence, from the start of time
The fight for survival is our only crime
Those in power, rotten to the core
The ongoing battle of the eternal war

That's a statement i never thought i would ever come across, but to each his own.
Apart from the guitar sound, i prefer every aspect of TOL to anything those two have to offer - Karl's deeper vocals, the riffs are catchier etc.
For me, TOL is up there with Warmaster, IVth Crusade and For Victory.
I Love me some Mercenary though, I think its very underrated

I like the grindcore feel of early Bolt Thrower, lasting for four albums or so. It's a shame they didn't take that with them into a progression, the later albums just sound kind of dull.

Definitely agree with all of that. HVP's vocals are quite poor, but it has the most diverse arrangements of probably all their albums; a lot of brooding, almost doomy riffs. And Mercenary... well, it's second only to Realm of Chaos imo.

I'm not really a big fan of this album aside from World Eater. I'll bust it out tomorrow to see if my opinion changes. The good news is that this thread reminded me to listen to Those Once Loyal again, which is awesome, and possibly my favourite Bolt Thrower album (either that or ...For Victory).

Yeah, I mean I was into TOL for quite a while after I heard it and for the exact reasons that you said, the monster vocals and catchy riffs, like in Salvo for example. It's sort of removed from their earlier discography in my opinion for the reasons that I mentioned, and I also feel that it is simpler in construction. It's not a bad thing, but the other albums tend to sound a bit more intricate after comparing them to be honest. And Mercenary is definitely underrated, a near perfect mix of death metal and some groovier passages.

Don't get me wrong, all Bolt Thrower albums kick ass.



Yeah for sure dude, the riffs are doomy as on that one, but I enjoy the faster moments as well because they contrast each other and give the album its identity. I guess you could describe it by saying its meaty as hell, and you can recognize it without having to see which CD it is.

Quoted for truth

The individual guitar sound for Those Once Loyal could be beefier but when sitting in the mix it's fine. It has a lot of clarity and the lack of low end is more than compensated for by that gargantuan bass sound. When in unison it's absolutely crushing (more reason for bassists to reign in their ego and serve the song rather than looking for spaces to do 2 handed tapping things).

It's somewhat unvaried in the pacing but to me this is a strength instead of a detriment. The album is relentless, switching only between a pounding groove and a pummeling groove, and making the switches in all the right places, a testament to the maturity of the band's songwriting skills. Also, the individual songs and riffing is distinctive and catchy enough such that the lack of tempo variation isn't a big deal. As mentioned, the 1-2 blows of At First Light/Entrenched and The Killchain/Granite Wall are the definite highlights for me. Salvo and Last Stand of Humanity are great songs too and When Cannons Fade is an excellent album closer. A great album by any account and 2nd best to Realm of Chaos to my ears.

Crazy to think world downfall and altars were released in the same year

Words of truth.

I gave Realm of Chaos a listen yesterday. I still feel the same way about it. World Eater is fantastic, and the rest is ok. Every song sounds really similar, and the band would get a lot better on the albums after it.

I wish BT would release those tracks from HVP that Karl re-recorded.

ha ha ha

We might be in need of a Bolt Thrower poll at some point... maybe

this reminds me of this actually: a couple of years ago on the deathmetal.be forum there used to be this forum section only ment for polls and they used to do polls separately for all the big known death metal bands to try and find which are their best albums, which sometimes led to quite some interesting results actually, this was eventually followed by a death match of all the winning albums from different bands ^^ would be cool if this would be allowed here aswell