Bolt Thrower Albums RANKED!

Necrotic Nick, Jammin' Jon and Shedlord go through and rank the discography of death metal legends Bolt Thrower!
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/ @downfallnetwork

[@superunknown2812]

I will say Bolt Thrower went out with a bang with there last and final album For those once loyal that and the 4th crusade are my favourites.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Agreed. For Those Once Loyal is epic in every sense of the word.

[@kaptaink1897]

Bolt Thrower gets points for self-awareness and integrity. I can't think of another band with an extensive discography, that went out on top.

[@bschuler6216]

@@kaptaink1897 Absolutely

[@robertocaba5915]

Literally closing their career with one of their most memorable epic tunes "When Cannon Fades"...what an awesome band. To me all the pieces fell into place after kiddie entered on drums, way better drummer than Whale. Even the guy who did the drums on Mercenary was much better. But yeah, I love BT unconditionally...

[@knokkelturi]

Strange how taste differs. IV Crusade is a classic to me and the best BT album alongside Those once Loyal and For Victory. Been a fanboy since I first heard it in 92/93:)

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- As much as I do love that one, it did fall a bit just in comparison to others in their discography. Being a giant old school death metal fan War Master and Realm of Chaos were going to be at the top for me. Still, this has been one of my personal favorite rankings thus far.

[@d.bulldoze]

Not alone Fredrick kzbin.info/www/bejne/jIHEkoZri9Nnj8k

[@joaol6789]

mercenary is my favorite. love all of them

[@100hollands5]

Bolt Thrower is like a machine , it rolls over you turn around it rolls over you again turn around and it rolls over you again and again and again....... Absolutely love this band for more than 30 year’s!!!! 💪🏻🤘🏻

[@SquibbeyJenkins]

The first four albums are incredible, I would say they are some of the highest quality releases in all of death metal. Honestly all of their albums are overall enjoyable

[@mattw4461]

5) The IV Crusade 4) Realms of Chaos 3) For Victory 2) Those Once Loyal 1) War Master I don't have the other ones so I left them off my list. One of those bands I loved but never got to see them live.

[@DragonFist9323]

Finally a Bolt Thrower video

[@happymonkeyfish]

Realm of Chaos is easily my favorite album, its so heavy and ahead of the curve to me when it comes to early death metal, i love the guitar work and the solos, the organicness of the rhythm in the songs and how the themes mesh with the music. Killer album

[@rusbell2981]

This discography video series is the absolute best! I hope you guys continue to do this!

[@loganc1158]

My second favorite death metal bands of all time behind Death! I love every album. 8. In Battle There is No Law! 4/5 7. Honor, Valor, Pride 4/5 6. War Master 4.5/5 5. Realm of Chaos 4.5/5 4. Mercenary 4.5/5 3. …For Victory 5/5 2. The IVth Crusade 5/5 1. Those Once Loyal 5/5

[@hvitekristesdod]

My personal ranking 8. In Battle There Is No Law 7. Honour, Valour, Pride 6. Realm of Chaos 5. War Master 4. The IVth Crusade 3. For Victory 2. Those Once Loyal 1. Mercenary 🤘🤘

[@radupitica]

Yea this is pretty much mine as well. Those once loyal really is top and mercenary is so underrated.

[@kaptaink1897]

Probably the hardest discography to rank. First to last, their albums are near equal in quality. 1. Those Once Loyal 2. Realm of Chaos 3. Mercenary 4. The IVth Crusade 5. In Battle there is No Law 6. ...For Victory 7. War Master 8. Honor - Valor - Pride This made me want to listen to Bolt Thrower now. The entire discography. In chronological order.

[@seanslicton7715]

Mercenary is my favorite, wild.

[@MarcoCuauhtemocMejia]

Really liking the videos, good work

[@jaysonlee4394]

Favorite Death Metal band of all time.. Got that Death Groove..

[@ShrapnelBandOfficial]

Warmaster and IVth Crusade are my favs (the latter got me into them) Actually just picked up WM/RoC/...FV on vinyl from Earache yesterday. Great video guys!

[@devildozer]

The 4th Crusade is the album that got me hooked on Bolt Thrower, it was released when I had a death metal show on college radio so naturally Earache sent the station a copy.

[@mikepenny8940]

4th crusade, for victory, those once loyal, the nerds are here. We are the nerds. Life is music, Warhammer 40k and history 👍👍🔥🔥

[@Henry_1178]

Honour valour pride War Master and For Victory are my favorite bolt thrower albums.

[@cameronthomas578]

Those Once Loyal is their Magnum Opus, though very refreshing to hear Warmaster finally get a solid mention.

[@cameronthomas578]

The opening to Profane Creation is so heavy and foreboding 🤘

[@vanruin]

Absolutely love your channel. Seem to be all decent well rounded smart group of guys with a great musicians point of view. Will recommend to all my death metal buddies and will share with all the country loving high steel Ironworkers (feel they need to have Bolt Thrower blaring on a big job for all to enjoy as we hang and bang) whether they like it or not. Amazing channel should have 100k subscribers. Stay Death

[@somerandommetalhead8982]

My ranking would be 1. IVth Crusade 2. Mercenary 3. For Victory 4. Those Once Loyal 5. War Master 6. Realms Of Chaos 7. In Battle There Is No Law 8. Honor Valour Pride

[@Williameagleblanket]

Man, Bolt Thrower was one of the best live bands I have ever seen. May 2013 in Seattle with Benediction. 🇬🇧🤘🎸 RIP Martin Kearns. 😔

[@charleswood123]

Those One Loyal for me followed by IVth Crusade. You guys are great. I like how you go in discography order and give your rankings as you go.

[@DragonFist9323]

My favorite is WAR MASTER but I love them all anyways

[@Intermentor]

...For Victory will always be my nr. 1

[@AltheSpiderlord]

YES! You recognised What Dwells Within as one of the BEST RIFFS OF ALL TIME. Bolt Thrower never really made a bad album. They are sadly missed

[@mikepenny8940]

Watching this video for the 12th time in the future (2024) Bolt thrower is life!!!🔥🔥🔥🔥👍👍👍👍

[@Vitsi5935]

My top three Bolt Thrower albums are: 1.The IVth Crusade 2.Realm of Chaos 3.Warmaster

[@godetonter4764]

What a great band. I have read comments about people not liking Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and even Death, but everyone seems to never have anything bad to say about Boltthrower

[@THIRSTYGUMS]

They don't have a bad album

[@slickleg6066]

I've thought the same thing!! All their title tracks are among my favorites.

[@zer0ed779]

Great video. As previously mentioned, very challenging discography to rank. I won't dare do it. That said, as a very old school Bolt Thrower fan, Honor.Valor.Pride was a high ranking album for me since the day it came out. I always try to champion that one. Also, one of the best shows I have ever been to was seeing them in, I think, 1991 at the decades gone Bayou Club in Georgetown, Virginia. To this day, one of the wildest pits. Fairly certain that show is responsible for many back issues as an adult.

[@Gravy1255]

For victory Those once loyal 4th crusade Realm of chaos Mercenary Honor Valor pride War Master In battle As the residential Bolt Thrower lover, this is the only ranking.

[@MrWeed-nk1zk]

my personal ranking 8.honour valour pride 7.in battle there is no law 6.mercenary 5.for victory 4.war master 3.realm of chaos 2.those once loyal 1.the IV crusade

[@crazywhiteboy8358]

Great Band lucky enough to have seen them 3 times! Hopefully they’ll reunite one day

[@joshallen3558]

Fun fact: the Cenotaph riff is actually the World Eater outro riff, except that album was played in A so it doesn't sound the same. It's played the same way though. Great vid as always, Bolt Thrower fucking rules!

[@TheMetalGaia]

Man, you guys made me realize that I was too down on War Master over the years. Idk why but I skipped over it to go straight to IV Crusade and For Victory, but after going back, War Master is so damn good!

[@markgilbert9769]

Bolt Thrower is a band that I love. I have all their albums. Warmaster is still my #1 fav.

[@fadedidentity]

I wish they kept their guitars tuned to A like they did on Realm of Chaos. it’s my favorite album of theirs almost solely because of the guitar work. super low, super heavy, amazing riffs, amazing tone.

[@wheelsofmercury]

Bolt Thrower is a band that--even if you've only listened to them a few times like I have--has a sound that is instantly recognizable, with one of the best guitar tones EVER! I'm excited to watch this sometime.

[@Metalbob011]

BOLTTHROWER IS EPIC \M/ Only band that I when I discovered I listen to them weekly for 10 years.

[@MrLando0]

3. Mercenary 2. For Victory 1. IV Crusade

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- I agree with For Victory being up that high. They have a great discography overall though.

[@Death_Metal_Head]

Yes, As The World Burns is my favorite track off of that album as well.

[@michaeluy114]

great band. I wish I listened to them more yrs ago because I heard cenotaph in the 90's when metal kinda sucked. Every album I listen to is great. my favorite for now is war master, realms, for victory, IV crusade

[@DScott-cu2zk]

For Victory got me into this band

[@philipdeppen3644]

War Master for me as well. That album has it all. Death Doom and Thrash with lots of grit and groove. Extremely creative album for sure. Extremely memorable album

[@JackoBanon1]

Besides everything that has been said so far I have to add that Honour, Valour, Pride really grew on me over time and is now in my top3 even though the different singer made it almost feel like listening to a different band. But the instruments are Bolt Thrower at its finest!

[@lancewright1222]

Those Once Loyal and IVth Crusade are my favorites. Sometimes I find myself listening to those albums on a loop. Love that funky Bolt Thrower beat. First heard World Eater on a Grindcore compilation album back in 90-91 but I've been hooked since I first found War Master in a used CD store back in 92-93. Being more of a Doom fan than Death Metal, Realms of Chaos and In Battle there is no Law are a bit too raw for me but I can appreciate their importance. 1. Those Once Loyal 2. IVth Crusade 3. For Victory 4. War Master 5. Mercenary 6. Honor Valour Pride 7. Realms of Chaos

[@J_Stamps86]

I'm a year late to this list. Glad you gave my buddy Dingram props. Best thing about IVth Crusade is Josh Barnett walking to the cage for MMA fights to the title track.

[@Cattani1982]

Ok, Shred mentioning Warhammer 40k and ranking Honour Valour Pride pretty high means I can now finally forgive him for burying Into the Pandemonium. Just no fuck ups from here on plz. Also cheers Jon for ranking The IVth Crusade pretty high. I love them all, but that's probably my favourite.

[@ardnagreine]

Love it Lads ...

[@Brunetto46]

The fourth crusade still my favourite

[@hornyconvict]

take a shot every time Jon says "mix"

[@grindmtl]

1 War Master 2 Realm of chaos 3 for victory 4 Iv crusade 5 Mercenary 6 those once loyal 7 In battle there is no law 8 Honour Valour Pride but still love all the BT albums 🤘🏻

[@carlosjantarada7212]

Perhaps my favorite Death Metal band ever and a fan since 1990. Not a single bad album in their catalogue. 8 - Mercenary 7 - ...For Victory 6 - In Battle There Is No Law 5 - War Master 4 - Honor Valor Pride 3 - The IVth Crusade 2 - Those Once Loyal 1 - Realm Of Chaos

[@martinolopezcastro9739]

Mercenary is critical underrated as fuck

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Even though I didn't care for as much as the others, it's still a pretty decent album.

[@bschuler6216]

I was relistening to Mercenery recently, and it sounded a lot better than i remember it sounding. This album has groove (and I am not a fan of groove metal), and it flows. I can just press play and go about my quarantined day in a great, pumped mood.

[@dfnoshamps]

Agreed. Best BT album by far for me

[@elviradark6902]

Shit, I really didn't know that Mercenary considered the worst their album (I also saw other reviews which ranked it low), I always thought that it's an amazing release almost on par with For Victory LOL

[@dalegriffin6768]

The first song I heard from BOLT THROWER was Killchain and that was what opened the door to all there music,I really can't say what my favorite album is because I love all there music,but if I was forced to give an answer it would be For Victory

[@georgecarlin3668]

My favorite album still Realm of Chaos and always will be!!!

[@henrygonzales1629]

I honestly got into this band just a week ago and my favorite album by them currently is Honor Valour Pride I was listening to Obituary's Cause Of Death during this time and I figured I should look into Bolthrower and I was just blown away by how that Album impacted my growth towards adventuring more death metal bands that people don't really talk alot about and of course popular death metal bands and Bolthrower is for sure one of my favorite bands for sure to headbang and listen to and of course theirs better Bolthrower albums but I definitely enjoyed it.🔥🤘🏽

[@rememberbeginning]

Those once Loyal, Warmaster, for Victory and Mercenary are my top #4. #5 could be any of the others on any given day. I actually like Honour, Valour, Pride as well! Dave Ingram has an incredible voice for death metal vocals...cheers guys🍻

[@yvesheinrich5013]

If I was watching this video at the time it was released, I would also agree on War Master being #1, which really caught me by surprise. It used to be my favorite Bolt Thrower album, but ultimately Realms of Chaos won me over.

[@houstonburkhead5188]

I was actually quite surprised that you ranked IVth Crusade as low as you did.

[@derlustigepete]

Agree on Mercenary but NO GUTS NO GLORY still rules💪🏻

[@erikmathis5321]

Mercenary rules

[@peterock4210]

Like these rankings a lot. Gotta weigh in on 4th Crusade. Way higher for me.

[@bschuler6216]

I only own 3 of their albums: Realms Of Chaos, IV Crusade & Mercenary. I've been close to purchasing War Master a few times (just waiting for a good price), and I will one day own Those Once Loyal. Realms Of Chaos doesn't quite do it for me (which is another reason i hesitated buying War Master), but i really dig IV Crusade and (unpopular opinion apparently) Mercenary.

[@lofiwire7917]

That dude on the far right knows what the hell he's talking about

[@takodabostwick8507]

1. War Master 2. Realm of Chaos 3. Those Once Loyal 4. ...For Victory 5. The IVth Crusade 6. In Battle There Is No Law 7. Honor - Valor - Pride 8. Mercenary

[@rudolf88]

For Victory....the Best

[@zakillah9702]

1. Realm 2. IVth Crusade 3. Warmaster 4. ...for Victory 5. In Battle 6. Those once loyal 7. Mercanary 8. HVP

[@elitalkswith513]

I love this video however to me For Victory is my favorite albums from them.

[@Daggilus]

1. War Master 2. ...for victory 3. Honour Valour Pride 4. Those once Loyal 5. The IVth crusade 6. Mercenary 7. Realm of Chaos 8. In the Battle there is no Law

[@Dankmagician419]

For me realm of chaos is my no.1. I love going crazy to blast beat and ton of killer fast riff

[@thrashmaniac99]

My ranking: 1. The IVth Crusade 2. War Master 3. For Victory 4. Those Once Loyal 5. Realm of Chaos 6. In Battle, There is No Law 7. Honor - Valor - Pride 8. Mercenary

[@3wheelife]

God, why does the Mercenary album get so much “hate” lol my favorite BT album! My fave albums are your least fave, vise versa. I didn’t enjoy their first albums as much as my top 6. Good to see other opinions though 1. Mercenary 2. Honour Valour Pride 3. Those once loyal 4. For Victory 5. IVth Crusade 6. War Master 7. Realm of chaos 8. In battle

[@paradoxofepicurus]

1. The IVth Crusade 2. War Master 3. Those Once Loyal 4. ..For Victory 5. Honor - Valor - Pride 6. Mercenary 7. Realm of Chaos 8. In Battle there is No Law

[@rutbuck121]

Great Review again fella's! I have ONE favor to ask from you guy's i REALLY want to hear you guys review my all time favorite band...EXODUS! They have a 10 album Discography that i think holds a lot of weight to any of the Big 4. Would love to hear you're thoughts take care fella's!

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- We’re going to wait for the new Exodus to drop so we can review it and throw it in the ranking. Shred’s next axe wielder segment will be on Gary Holt though. 🤘

[@JohnEvans-xg2bp]

Maybe I'll get nuked for this in the comments...but I've always been a fan of Mercenary. I prefer Warmaster and IVth Crusade, but their supposed dud has some of their most beloved fam favorite songs like No Guts No Glory. Yes the mix isn't perfect, yes the band was tired in some ways, but each album is kind of its own thing. I've always thought of Mercenary as BT's most hardcore influenced album. You hear the sound today in bands like Frozen Soul, Judiciary, Creeping Death, Sunami, Tribal Gaze, Harm's Way, and Skourge

[@MarkPJordan]

It's tough. I'd love to grab the vinyl again, I want that unadulterated rush of the needle dropping and being 19 again and Bolt Thrower trampling my senses. But I'm wary of the band not receiving any money if I buy direct from Earache, even their Bandcamp seems to be run be run by Earache. Maybe the bands financial relationship with Earache has improved but if somebody could clarify that situation, that'd be awesome. I would love the band to receive the money I'd gladly spend on the music they created and enriched my life with.

[@richardwharram4955]

1.) Those Once Loyal 2.) The IVth Crusade 3.) Realm Of Chaos 4.) For Victory 5.) Mercenary 6.) Honour, Valour, Pride 7.) In Battle There Is No Law 8.) Warmaster

[@derrickkowalewski9239]

It's hard to pick a favorite Bolt Thrower album. For me its between Realms Of Chaos and Warmaster. Honor, Valor Pride is my least favorite. I do like all of their albums and are rare in bands that stick around for a while, everything they released is good

[@doctorphibes601]

Cool ranking guys.. I thought about this for a long time but the only thing i can say is thats Mercenary is hands down their "worst" For the best i go for Those Once Loyal or maybe For Victory..Its pretty impossible to rank their stuff 'cause they are one of the most consistant bands ever imho

[@vrme4420]

My absolute favorite band. I got to see them in France in 2011 and in London 2012. Great memories. 1. Those Once Loyal 2. War Master 3. Realm of Chaos 4. The IVth Crusade 5. For Victory 6. Mercenary 7. Honor Valor Pride 8. In Battle

[@craigroaring]

1: Warmaster I find it too hard to rank all albums. Plus i'm not too familiar with post IVth crusade. One of the things i liked about Realm of Chaos was the sound of the strings struggling and flopping with the low tuning.

[@TunnelVisionAthletic]

Comon Realm of Chaos is the best by far!

[@j-decay]

🤘☕🤘

[@caseyrobertson5574]

wow! i can't believe you guys don't like Mercenary that's my favorite album. the song Return from chaos is so damn heavy!

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- I think it’s alright, but for me it pales in comparison to their other albums.

[@caseyrobertson5574]

@@thrallsofmetal maybe i like it so much because it was the 1st album of theirs that i heard. i was in 6th grade when i bought the cassette. i love all their albums though War master is my 2nd favorite \m/

[@VEGANzUmebies]

Fook yeah

[@sianthorw5537]

I love Bolt Thrower, but I cant have War Master as number 1. I think i am bias because when it was released, it was touted as "THE HEAVIEST ALBUM EVER MADE". It clearly wasnt and I was disgruntled

[@JonnyJungle77]

I can easily place Realm of Chaos in last place. Apart from that super difficult to rank the discography of Bolt Thrower. Warmaster is at the top though.

[@korn454]

This would be impossible for me. Personally I think they never made a lackluster album.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- This one was pretty tough. Even though I had Mercenary at the bottom there's still a lot I like about it. Not a bad problem to have with having too many solid albums.

[@rafaelrodriguez4350]

"REALMS OF CHAOS"

[@EmrahUncu]

Here is my ranking of Bolt Thrower's studio albums; kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6jNp6lqmpx2q7s

[@brycedaniel4552]

Being called 'A less melodic Six Feet Under' is about the last thing you want for your band! lol

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- Agreed.

[@radio667]

For The Emperor !!!!

[@FEVfallout]

You forgot that realm of chaos was downtuned by hardware harmonizers 3 semitones AFAIR, so it's a production trick. They probably couldn't get their hands at proper scale guitars / strings to get that low.

[@FEVfallout]

Also they downtuned every track (drums and vocals too) as far as I can tell.

[@michaeluy114]

chainsword bolt thrower style band. But you guys probably know them

[@KiwiDimi]

I saw them once is a small club. I had something like 18yo, knew only one song but I enjoyed the whole show, it was fucking awsome!

[@EggersEggers-pd6te]

Honor, Valor, Pride. #1. Pride is badass. K-machine is good too. But the whole album is great. Wasn't super impressed with Warmaster. When Glory Beckons one of old favorites I haven't heard in years lol.

[@thrallsofmetal]

Necrotic Nick- I dig Honor, Valor, Pride but it didn't hold up to some of the others like Warmaster and For Victory. Even Bolt Thrower's "weaker" albums are still damn good.