Apocalyptic Doom

Thunderbolt is one of the best black metal bands that hail from Poland. For most people, other bands such as Graveland, Mgla and Batushka are the be all and end all when it comes to Polish black metal, but they couldn't be more woefully wrong. The Polish scene has somewhat of a reputation for being filled with a lot of national-socialist black metal bands, however, that has not been my experience with most black metal bands originating from Poland. Thunderbolt used to be associated with the national-socialist scene for good reason, since their earlier releases definitely contained overtures towards more populist right-wing views.

However, "Apocalyptic Doom" does not contain any political message, except maybe the message of pure nihilism and total devastation. The vitriol which fuels this album, makes this last effort by this band before they disbanded, proves to be quite an endless well of inspiration. All the songs on this full-length are frantic as hell and have a bellicose feel to them. The production quality on this full-length is of a superb quality and gives each instrument the sound it deserves in order to leave the biggest impact. When listening to this album, two other similar bands to Thunderbolt instantly come to mind: Armagedda and Funeral Mist. Both aforementioned bands create the same atmosphere as Thunderbolt does, in most of their albums. One way to describe this overall ambience, would be akin to the atmosphere created by fear of the unknown and the knowledge of impending doom.

Each song on this album refuses to take any prisoners. The drum parts on this album are dominated by relentless blast-beats, sprinkled with groovier and more mid-tempo patterns where they sound appropriate. The guitar work is mostly tremolo-riff driven, with some short-solos inserted sparsely but used intelligently and power-chord passages. The bass is sometimes quite difficult to hear, but I can't truly hold anything against them, since this sort of black metal is highly melody driven. One main thing which keeps me from giving this album a full score, is the inoffensive attitude of some songs. Too many songs on this album sound exactly the same as the previous one you'd have by then already heard. This is also my main gripe with most swedish black metal bands such as Dark Funeral and Marduk. Sometimes, uniqueness and mysticism are totally ignored for the sake of primitive bestiality and some sort of roughly-defined aggressive benchmark some bands dream of achieving. I would strongly suggest this album to all those who enjoy black metal that is aggressive, but not bestial (e.g. black witchery/blasphemy).

''Apocalyptic Doom'' is one of the best black metal albums which I have ever heard. It was a continuation of what they have started on ''Inhuman Ritual Massmurder'' by playing very fast and aggressive black metal in the name of Satan. Unfortunately Thunderbolt split-up shortly after the release of ''Apocalyptic Doom''. On the remains of Thunderbolt arisen Deus Mortem, Tortorum and most recently Terrestrial Hospice. These three bands refer to the legacy of Thunderbolt in a a great way.

Firstly there is an ''intro'' called ''The Omen'' whch I think is based on the old classic horror movie (1976) with the same title, because this ''intro'' really announces apocalypse and satanic victory which has to come. ''The Omen/Apocalyptic Doom'' is very crushing and it's one of my favourite tracks on this album. Actually there are no weak or boring songs here. Lyrics are also very hateful like on ''Inhuman Ritual Massmurder'' but even more mature. Some of them were written by Aryman, Taipan (Orcustus) and Trondr Nefas (Urgehal, Beastcraft). It was an excellent idea to create one track with Polish title and lyrics. ''Spadnie Śmiertelny Cios'' is a very aggressive anthem which foreruns the annihilation of Christianity and it's followers. I also have to distinguish ''Scumslaughter'' which sounds like a real militaristic hammer of judgement that crushes every weakness and set the whole world in fire. Without a doubt they were influenced by the Norwegian black metal, especially Mayhem ''De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas'' but also by the second league bands such as Gorgoroth, Urgehal, Beastcraft, 1349, Tsjuder, Orcustus and by the Swedish ones like Marduk or Funeral Mist.

The whole album is very rapid and intense. Stormblast is like a warmachine behind his drums with incredibly furious blasts which always reminds me about Marduk. Vocals of Necrosodom give the impression that he is totally possessed by Satan. ''Apocalyptic Doom'' is a piece of devastating black metal which doesn't take prisoners. It was the last album of Thunderbolt but I will always consider this band as one of the best Polish black metal bands.

If you’ve read my previous reviews, then you already know that I consider Thunderbolt to be one of the truly best black metal bands of the 00’s. Yes, this Polish legion of death is a malevolent force, which spawned some magnificent albums, of which “Inhuman Ritual Massmurder” is the perfect example for furious, devastating, utterly satanic black metal. The album is so intense and violent that it mutilates you and at the same time it’s not just about being fast and uncompromising, as it also has enough room for more atmospheric parts. And that only underlines the obscurity and eeriness of the music. So, you can realize that I also had great expectations for “Apocalyptic Doom”, which is the fourth full length LP of Thunderbolt. Sadly, it is also their last one, as soon after its release the band split up, mainly due to some fuckin problems, which they had with Agonia Records. I’m not gonna spread the rumours here though, no point doing it, especially as I quite like that label and many of their releases. But it is shitty situation, if such a killer band as Thunderbolt splits up so early… Good thing though is that on the ashes of Thunderbolt two other bands were formed: excellent Deus Mortem and Tortorum. But that’s another story… Here I’m going to write few words about “Apocalyptic Doom”.

And obviously my opinion on this album is again very, very positive. I mean, this band at some point raised the quality of their music into the dimension, which was reserved only for the best black metal bands and with “Apocalyptic Doom” they kept it intact. The album is just as good as its predecessor, it slays mercilessly and brings the annihilation of all what’s sacred and death and pain to the mankind! And more so, in my opinion “Apocalyptic Doom” is even faster and more relentless, more intense and violent when compared to its predecessor, on which Thunderbolt tried to incorporate some more atmospheric fragments, using keyboards here and there and having couple of acoustic songs. “Apocalyptic Doom” has nothing like this, and from start to finish it is a forceful attack, blasting with speed of light. Sure, there are some slower parts and “The Inner Beast” even begins with kind of industrial motif. But the main accent on “Apocalyptic Doom” is putted on fast and aggressive black metal.

In some ways this album reminds me Mayhem. And maybe I would even wish if Mayhem played something like this after “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas” LP (but instead they decided to experiment with such albums like “Grand Declaration of War”… ahhh). Atmosphere wise it is quite similar I suppose and there’s also such song as “The Mark of Cain”, where even the vocals have been done in the Mayhemic style. There are also some arrangements, riffs and ideas, which I can put close to “De Mysteriis…”, maybe even to “Wolf’s Lair Abyss”. And it is awesome that Thunderbolt is bringing such resemblances. Obviously I can also bring comparisons to such bands as Urgehal, Gorgoroth, 1349, Tsjuder, maybe even to some Marduk… but I think that Thunderbolt was just better than Marduk, as they at least knew how to make more interesting songs, with a lot of killer ideas and arrangements of all instruments, instead of just ripping through with some monotonous and one dimensional playing. And really, basically every song on “Apocalyptic Doom” is superb, with few, which I find as extremely awesome. Which? Well, already the beginning is something I worship. First there’s a killer introduction titled “The Omen”, which transforms into a beast titled “Apocalyptic Doom”. Then there are such amazing anthems as “Infernal Redemption”, “Spadnie śmiertelny cios…” (where the Polish lyrics give something special and damn, I just love how it all sounds!), “The Mark of Cain”… Finally the LP version, which I was lucky to buy back at the day of release of this album, contains an exclusive track called “Damned Ones Anthem” and it is another fine piece of furious black metal. Arrrghhhh! What a killer stuff, really! So intense and powerful, so aggressive and violent!

I have no doubts that such LPs as “Inhuman Ritual Masmurder” and “Apocalyptic Doom” belong to the best black metal materials, which have been released this millennium. And I can only feel sorrow that the band split up and more so, there’s also this feeling not many maniacs know this band and value these two albums (and obviously the first two as well, as they were great also!). This is one of those underrated materials, which deserved more… So, if you ever have a chance to get a copy of it, especially the vinyl, take it without thinking twice!
Standout tracks: “The Omen”, “Apocalyptic Doom”, “Infernal Redemption”, “Spadnie śmiertelny cios…”
Final rate: 89/100

If there was a bit more originality on this album, I'd have given it a 95%...but that is about the only drawback found on here. This is quite akin to Marduk "World Funeral"-era, with just a bit more thrash influence. The vocals aren't as "croaking" as Legion's, however. They are a bit more hoarse.

The production on this is top-notch, a step up from their previous album, which also had pretty great production. Everything on here is perfectly-EXECUTED black metal, if not that original. Sure, there are some lyrics in Polish, but who listens to b.m. and understands the lyrics anyway? And---better question yet---if they CAN'T understand the lyrics, who cries about it? I've met a few. But they didn't last long. Beware of following side rant: how many of you have heard imeciles saying they don't like some band "because I can't understand the lyrics"? Yeah, EVERYone who listens to metal listens to it so they can sing along while cruising all the fast food places in their trailer-park town, don't they? Have any of you ever met anyone who was TRULY into metal that whined about not being able to understand the lyrics? Usually they are the ones who call the vocalist "the lead singer" or Judas Priest "he". Human sheep must be exterminated, ground up, and fed to other human sheep!

As you may have guessed, the music on this album is blisteringly fast, really whirling and scraping. There are, indeed, quite a few tempo changes --- this is not fast, faster, and fastest like "Panzer Division Marduk" --- to keep things interesting enough. Please don't get the idea that this band is a Marduk clone...just rather similar styles of playing and writing. Very powerful arrangements that pack enough cool surprises to keep you coming back for more. The guitar sound is properly distorted, without going into the necro-buzzing territory, and some of the picking sounds a bit "choked" at times but that is not a detriment or even very noticeable. The drums are pretty powerful, as well.

This is high-end brutality, not some ultra-necro b.m. steeped in eldritch orthodoxism. But it is much more "sharp" than fellow Poles Behemoth, for example, especially in the vocal department. There are quite a few Polish bands with a death metal tendency; I don't feel that Thunderbolt displays this, at least not on this album. Of course, with almost any b.m. release, one can hear vestiges of d.m., and why not?

So, if you want something comfortably familiar (what an amusing turn of phrase to describe something this malign!) and of very high quality, definitely get this, especially if you love Marduk and the ilk. If you simply MUST have something totally unique...well, good luck finding that somewhere!