My 2 favorite...

...albums are number 1. "The IVth Crusade" (1992) and 2nd favorite is "...For Victory" (1994) both on silver Full Dynamic Range vinyls limited to 500 copies each that Earache reissued last year.

Many argue which one is their best some say that it's "Realm Of Chaos" (1989) the bands second full length studio album or its follow-up "War Master" (1991). Seldom some would mention the debut "In Battle There Is No Law!" (1988) when the band had a more kind of Grindcore sound (a genre I never got into although I like some early Carcass songs).


Either way no one is wrong the albums between 1989 to 1994 are pure Death Metal at its finest even if I wouldn't have any of them in my top-10 Death Metal albums. In a top-20? Hell fucking YES!!

Coventry, England is where Bolt Thrower started their career in 1986. Before their debut in they released 5 demos and one EP "The Peel Session" (1988). One year after their debut they signed with Earache and released their first album on that classic Death Metal record company.

Back in the early 90’s when I first started getting into the Death Metal scene this was a band I would always hear about but never bought any of their CD’s until many years later. Remember seeing the video for the song Cenotaph from the “War Master" album that my older sister had recorded to VHS from European Headbanger’s Ball. Also myself recording the excellent the title track from “The IVth Crusade”. It’s really strange I didn’t buy any of their records because Bolt Thrower are such an amazing Death Metal band. But then again I was more into the North American & Swedish scene back then except for Carcass.

The band toured extensively during 1993-94 for "The IVth Crusade" after its release in October of 1992 in 1993 the band did something like 51 gigs. An European tour with Vader and Grave called 'World Crusade Tour' in 1993 also an Australian tour with Armoured Angel and in 1994 an North American tour with fellow British Death Metal act Benediction.


"...For Victory" was released in November of 1994 and they only toured in Europe for that record if I'm correct. The 'No guts, No Glory' tour in 1995 with Cemetary and Brutality the average setlist would have 8 songs from the new one, 4 songs of “The IVth Crusade” and 2 songs from the “War Master" album. Second 1996 tour in Europe was called 'Fuck Price Politics' for this one they had Sentenced, Power of Expression and Varukers with them.

It would take the band 4 years release their album "Mercenary" in November of 1998. A long time one can think in the 90's when many Death Metal bands had their most productive time even if Bolt Thrower had made 5 records in a 6 year period. I think that the Death Metal genre had already peaked and since 1995 there haven't been any records by any band that can top the classics like "Altars Of Madness", "Left Hand Path", "Deicide", "Covenant", Leprosy", "Like An Everflowing Stream" and so on. The band released 2 more albums after the "Mercenary" record which was the last to be released on Earache Records they signed with Metal Blade Records and their last record became "Those Once Loyal" in 2005.

As you probably know they split up in 2016 exactly one year on the date that their drummer Martin Kearns (1977-2015) passed away. Of the longtime members Gavin Ward (guitar), Barry Thompson (guitar), Jo Bench (bass) only vocalist Karl Willetts is still active in the music industry as far as I know. He’s currently vocalist in the Death Metal band Memoriam with the former Bolt Thrower drummer Andrew Whale (1986-94) that started in 2016 and have released two albums. If you haven’t heard Bolt Thrower any of the 4 first albums on Earache is a great start.

Dedicated to Martin Kearns (1977-2015)