Bolt Thrower Retrospective

Bolt Thrower are one of very few bands (let alone one of very few death metal bands) to have an absolutely perfect discography. Every album is masterclass and is everything death metal should be. This is Bolt Thrower!
Edited by Druid / @drewfkadruid
In battle there is no law!: 2:30
Realm of chaos: 5:25
War master: 7:40
The IVth Crusade: 10:41
For Victory: 12:43
Mercenary : 16:19
Honour - Valour - Pride: 18:31
Those once loyal: 20:45
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[@tomasruzic6917]

Best Bolt Thrower album: Varies from day to day and what mood I'm in. Worst Bolt Thrower album: There is no worst album. They are all 10/10 Bolt thrower fucking rules, anyone with functioning ears know that

[@Highrollinhunter]

Bolt Thrower fucking rules they are better than Deicide in my opinion

[@phoenixzappa7366]

1st three albums I love. What's next ranked after that

[@robertocaba5915]

@@Highrollinhunter BT destroys Deicide any day. Deicide have a very good first 3 albums and that's it really

[@peeledapples4176]

Jo Bench has one of the heaviest, most rumbling bass tones in metal. Like a thunderstorm during an earthquake.

[@The90pete90]

No, no she doesn’t.

[@Pizza4Lunch]

Like a tank rolling through enemy lines.

[@TSE_WOODY]

@@The90pete90Who does then Pete you chode

[@Kcutthth]

Agree wholeheartedly.

[@jamescooper-hope6930]

And groovy af.

[@Mattulaak]

Bolt Thrower and DEATH are among the few bands to have a perfect discography.

[@DownFallNetWork]

Lol there are some bad death albums

[@DJ_ancore]

No there a no bad death album's

[@claytonshirey]

DownFall NetWork no? All their albums are 9/10 or 10/10. Far better then bolt thrower

[@DownFallNetWork]

LOL

[@claytonshirey]

DownFall NetWork oh

[@NitroModelsAndComics]

The true soundtrack to Warhammer 40K. I listen as I'm painting armies and I'm always inspired.

[@alphaniner3770]

that is how I found them - I was into 40K - and scanning through the CDs at the music store I spotted a space marine on a cover. Must have been in the early 90s.

[@j.j._]

Exactly a wet deam of war and destruction!

[@Bredavendavin]

I listen while playing Advanced Squad Leader

[@willdonohue1845]

Play them every time i paint/play my orks

[@efogg3]

Facts

[@denisjames8024]

by far the most underrated band ever .. as much as i wanted another album.. i do not think it is possible to top those once loyal.. one of the best albums ever

[@mrn234]

underrated are you kidding me ?

[@Zen-rw2fz]

There's memoriam, it's ok but karl's vocals didn't age that well

[@cahayakasih3268]

1.15 migthy karl wearing humiliation(malaysia) tshirt... Checkout this military death metal bands..this is underrated..

[@gaige8205]

underrated ever, I think not, not saying I dont think they are awesome

[@pedestrian6862]

@@cahayakasih3268 militan semesta glugluglgulglu semesta

[@BomageMinimart]

Bolt Thrower kept getting better at being Bolt Thrower until they finally released the most Bolt Thrower album possible, at which point they stopped writing new songs: they had achieved perfection and they knew it. Absolutely one of the greatest bands of all time. Good job with this video, eh; mad props.

[@Guardsman-sy8qm]

7:09 that's not a bizarre title. That is just a son of Angron, Primarch of the XII legion. Yup I'm a super nerd. I'll go away now

[@MrZauberelefant]

It's underappreciated how bolt Thrower owed their very name and lots of song titles to Warhammer and were even featured in White dwarf mag...

[@Guardsman-sy8qm]

@@MrZauberelefant indeed

[@aaronrichardson6755]

Mercenary was my introduction to the old school death metal genre and still my favourite album. I was a techno kid and listened to that album cover to cover and have never gone back!

[@badtexasbill5261]

The IVth Crusade has a killer low end punch that is missing in some of their later work. Which is still good.

[@MnemonicHeadTrip]

I’m a big fan of the lower tuning in realm of chaos, I don’t think they ever went back to that

[@Orangeokie7]

Those Once Loyal is the king of all Bolt Thrower albums!

[@cdeccles]

Yes

[@pickle7428]

The IVth Crusade

[@shillian4770]

Mercenary for me is king

[@Orangeokie7]

@@shillian4770 there really isn't a wrong answer. This is why BT is my all time favorite death metal band. 🤘🏼

[@Alonoda]

The repetetive riff appearing in some of the songs like powder burns, world eater, cenotaph etc.... is a great idea that creates a theme between albums... pretty special and epic

[@robertocaba5915]

Yup. Bob Marley did a similar thing live with Crazy Baldheads and Running away

[@bjoern_thun_dersteel]

I think the only Albums where the Riff doesnt shows is ...for victory, Honour-Valour-pride and "In Battle There's No Law!"

[@chrisford3559]

Man I've really enjoyed this. Been loving Bolt Thrower since I was 14, 49 now and still one of my absolute favorite bands EVER!!!!!!!!

[@moth7640]

I dont get why ppl don't like mercenary, i really love it

[@big_dave_7178]

Yea. Honour Valour Pride is generally ranked the weakest not Mercenary.

[@trefod]

Man, I bought "In battle there is no law" when it came out and became a death metal fan boy. Then they released Realms of Chaos and that settled my musical tastes for the next decade. I still hold these two albums up as the two best death metal albums ever. I like the cleanliness of Entombed and enjoy Pestilence and Morbid Angel etc. But nothing compares to Bolt Thrower taking my virginity back in the late eighties.

[@chrisford3559]

Dude I agree wholeheartedly! Give me my virginity back, let me hear Bolt Thrower for the first time.

[@Highrollinhunter]

Bolt Thrower, Death and the first four Metallica albums are my ultimate soundtrack to play Halo with when war master and creeping death play I'm ready to kill the whole entire covenant

[@normanmacfarlane3049]

Absolutely LOVE Bolt Thrower. The best death metal band ever . Every album is killer and the artwork is just brilliant. Love these guys.

[@Splitsplatofficial]

Mercenary was the album that became my intro to bolt thrower when I was 12 years old. I'm 25 now and still love bolt thrower to death. Call me a dweeb but Powder Burns is my all time favorite song of theirs. Just something about that riff and sound just does it for me and it has always been in my head since the first time I ever heard it. Love this fucking band!

[@skarmoon]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qF6saoCioaqWh5o

[@chaktsallo2165]

Seen them in Dublin 1991 on the War Master tour. What a night. The bouncers were stage diving too

[@aboutthemetal8783]

Seriously underrated band

[@DorianColeman]

Salvo is no filler

[@jordanwilson5964]

Nothing is filler with bolt thrower

[@andrebrown3631]

Very underrated band I knew people who liked death metal and never heard of them, thanks for making this I also didn't realize I somehow missed two albums.

[@radupitica]

How do so many people hate Mercenary? :( I have some bias because this album introduced me to Bolt Thrower and it has incredible riffs.

[@jonmorgan6300]

same here 👍🤟🤘

[@jeffnovak568]

Production. Before and after they had better production on their stuff, for some reason Mercenary had this annoying, tinny, irritating noise that just interfered with the overall sound of all the songs. The songwriting is fine, the playing is fine, the production was terrible.

[@francissheridan7712]

you say it's not Grind and then tell me how long it is....dude, the whole of our city back then invented GRIND and this album is part of it!!!!

[@CharMcDaddy]

Agreed.. Spent most of my youth in Brum watching some legends in the making

[@adamtmiddleton9985]

There is only like two decent grindcore bands so who cares?

[@danteruivo]

Bolt Thrower has a perfect discography. All 10/10s.

[@adamrichardson4332]

The cover of For Victory is British marines 'yomping' to victory across the Falklands. A small war against Argentina in the early 80's

[@southeast4624]

He's right,For victory is the only one I can listen to from start to finish, at least for now

[@gort9623]

2 months war

[@jpmtlhead39]

A Brilliant Band,with a brutal unique sound. Cenotaph is a huge track. One of The greastet bands Ever.

[@nickhoffman9256]

Warhammer + death metal =sheer perfection

[@reign8492]

My thoughts exactly 🤘

[@Kotzgrinder]

The Motörhead of Death Metal. Even their weakest stuff is at least "good". And Seeing them live back in 2010 one of the greatest concerts i ever visited. A Pure, fucking wall of sound.

[@leningreider3258]

BEST BAND OF ALL TIME, NO BAD ALBUMS NO BAD SONGS, NO BULLSHIT NO FACISM

[@arthurporter131]

Amen brother

[@Death_Metal_Head]

Which death metal bands were fascist?

[@mazeoftorment805]

my favorite death metal band. own all of their albums on vinyl. war master and for victory are my 2 favorites.

[@mrn234]

still try to get atleast the repressings on vinyl but i dont have so much money atm But it was funny when i got my Honor Valor Pride DLP repress it hat a Poster with it but from the Mercenary repress gnaah

[@laynevlogz4922]

I got an OG gatefold copy of Warmaster signed by the entire band... 🤘

[@russpeters6728]

Salvo is in no way filler, the riff in the middle of that track is the reason I got into Bolt Thrower.

[@carterc9171]

one of their best tracks in my opinion

[@markwillmott8936]

Lol, was actually at the gig you’re showing sporadically throughout the video. It was Jillys rock world in Manchester 93. Me and my friends thought it was a club night and stumbled on it by accident. Magnificent.

[@skruffejs666]

Fantastic Death metal band made UK , It's a pity that the Benediction is over

[@satanacuntfest]

The AC/DC of Death Metal and i mean that in the most respective way

[@cdeccles]

So you don’t like them?

[@satanacuntfest]

@@cdeccles Yes I do like Bolt Thower

[@kaktus-jooseppi4597]

the AC/DC of death metal is cannibal corpse

[@nof-bdybs6948]

Greatest DM band of all time.

[@rab1ez819]

World eater = one of the greatest death metal songs EVER

[@januszkazmierski1640]

A bunch of seriously talented badasses, should get as just much recognition/fame as Morbid Angel, Deicide and Cannibal Corpse...

[@stonedcrow5821]

Bolt Thrower are one of the only bands I say "fuckin'" every time I introduce them to people, and it is NOT a pejorative. It's like a "FUCKIN' Bolt Thrower", they are the "BEST"... We can do DEATH in England, trust that..... "Those Once Loyal" is one of - if not THE BEST - death record of all time.

[@pedroalexandredillemburg3751]

Usually I don't even listen to Death Metal, except Bolt Thrower, great band.

[@099_fahrezirafid8]

U should try Morbid Angel too

[@pedroalexandredillemburg3751]

@@099_fahrezirafid8 Nowadays I listen to other bands, but I'm not a big fan o Morbid Angel.

[@coldvoid]

@@pedroalexandredillemburg3751 🤦‍♂️🙄

[@bentheguitarlord8391]

Yea I personally think Mercenary is one of the bands best releases. It’s got a very solid catalog and has some of their best songs. Starts off with “Zeroed” and “Laid to Waste” which are both very strong and a great way to start off the album. Then “Return to Chaos” is in my opinion one of the heaviest songs off the album, followed by the title track which shows some amazing riffs and vocals. “To the Last...” is probably the weakest track off of the album but it’s still not bad at all. Then “Powder Burns” starts off the second half of the album and is personally one of my favourite Bolt Thrower songs. Although it can be somewhat repetitive at times, I think the riffs are absolutely amazing and it just flows well. “Behind Enemy Lines” is a solid song and brings us into the highlight of the album “No Guts, No Glory” which is one of the bands best songs, being fast, heavy, and just a well written death metal song. Then “Sixth Chapter” is just a great track to end off the album. I don’t know why it’s considered their worst work, as every song on it is strong and it’s just overall a great album! Probably #3 on my list

[@williamj.6418]

Ben The Guitar Lord / I continuealy agree. I really enjoy Mercenary. I always thought .....For Victory was always at the bottom of the BOLT THROWER totem.🤘

[@Pizza4Lunch]

Their final album is a Death Metal benchmark and the reason why they hadn't released anything else before splitting up. They felt Those Once Loyal was perfection and couldn't top it.

[@oldjack-mi8gk]

One of the most gratifying albums I’ve ever listened to, any genre. Start to finish everything is exactly right

[@DragonSlayer334]

"No guts no glory" sounds a lot like the riff from Anti-Tank

[@thesedgeman9863]

Never a weakness in their work. I love this band from the very start with 'In Battle...'. If you can get the PEEL SESSION even better. Find them on vinyl if you can. There are no equals to their greatness.

[@THEBONESBRIGADE]

LOVE IT!......Been into Bolt Thrower since the beginning.....

[@GREENWARRI0R]

Nothing I love more than listening to someone talk about my one of my favorite bands of all time.

[@brettskie0752]

Thank you for the review on this insane legendary band. I Love this BAND!

[@Szlejer]

Bolt Thrower is a forgotten gem... I listen to metal since the 80' and they are still my favorites... But I never liked their early albums... I love everything from Crusade and up.

[@Frustratia]

Their Peel Sessions were great. Love these guys, but I can indeed see how their early stuff gets labeled Gindcore.

[@folden2008]

Honour-Valour-Pride and Mercenary are awesome albums so underrated for sure,I love all their albums they are my favourite Death Metal band,awesome video I was looking for this very informative love it

[@deathbyslanina]

Unpopular opinion: Mercenary is the best Bolt Thrower album and one of the best in the genre

[@DownFallNetWork]

wrong

[@B-Bigbawz]

Care to explain why my dude?

[@joeyuzwa891]

Yup. Riffs are wayyyyyyyyyyyy too good not to be considered at LEAST one of their best. I have no clue why it’s widely considered their worst

[@jaimuzyka3177]

@Phantomlord Exactly

[@heifehen6222]

Dont listen to idiots how say what is wrong or right. All art is subjective. Mercenary is amazing, while the production is not the best. Powder Burns was the first song I ever learned how to play on a guitar from start to finish. Fuck the haters and elitist idiots.

[@andreynikolaev4015]

One of my favourites. I like all the stuff they released but "Those Once Loyal" will be played at my funeral.

[@AngryChristian1]

In Battle is a deathgrind album, and it sounds a lot like other 80's grindcore.

[@Williameagleblanket]

Got to see Bolt Thrower May 2013 in Seattle. Epic concert it was. 🤘🎸☠️

[@samiam2971]

Bolt Thrower is among my top 3 favourite bands. I pretty much love all their albums. For Those Always Loyal 🤘

[@cardsandcomics]

Cenotaph!!!! FOR VICTORY was my first album and i think Mercenary is underrated

[@cenotaph8627]

From 2017 I began listening to metal and in 2019 I discovered Bolt Thrower and I'm obssesed with them. Every time I'm listeing to their songs/albums it just feels like it was for the first time. They brought me into war stories/history more than school or any other shit had. If I would get a chance to see them live (without Martin sadly) I would give everything.

[@spitfire656]

Saw them live some years ago in belgium,totally amazing band! Bolt thrower did not do any of the biggest festivals around but then they showed up for a little hardcore festival called ieperfest in my hometown,totally unexpected but so cool 😄 You can see the entire performance here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/onSZgqqPfNWFbJo

[@Alonoda]

To me IVth crusade makes their best one but damn its a hard choice Genius band

[@philyyz]

First saw them in maybe 1990 in a pub in Birmingham. What a day. never been so wrecked lol. Those once loyal is the best album for me. The title track is my Remembrance Day prayer. Just brilliantly worked.

[@eduardoclaro7832]

I liked too much about this documentary Bolt-thrower is a great Death Metal band that I have collection Warmaster was very important for me I feel in this álbum all Power and distortion of guitarrs

[@adamtmiddleton9985]

Mercenary is my favorite Bolt Thrower album.

[@dannykrinkle4726]

Obituary has a perfect discography as well.

[@SHINGIKAMI]

Bolt Thrower is Sonic AF!🤘🏾😎🤘🏾Managed to see them 4x Live, Fucking Epic!!🤘🏾😎🤘🏾

[@jensejense]

Those once loyal is a fucking bullseye

[@alienresearchlab]

Bolt Thrower - so underrated. Don't hate but they kinda made death metal accessible to traditional metal-heads that were new to the genre. Every metal head can get behind a heavy riff and BT had that in spades! So far, (2021) nothing comes close for me. If there is anything out there with riffs, lyrics, vocals, heaviness and overall attitude as BT these days, I am all ears.

[@Sergio-nb4hj]

Frozen Soul are really good and play a style that is pretty much entirely based on BT's material, though they expand upon it a bit Not better than BT but its the best option around if you want similar music

[@JuanIparraguirre]

I agree, Warmaster was a transition album, still has blastbeats but they changed their tuning from low A to C# and started including those catchy breakdowns which marked the figure orientation of BT in terms of composition.

[@randyfowler7456]

Warmaster changed my life

[@maximilianschmid9890]

"Dave Ingram fram Lamberts' Basement, Metal Breakfast Radio.."

[@Death_Metal_Head]

Literally zero bad albums and zero bad songs. Although, I'll go against the grain and admit that The IVth Crusade is my favorite album.

[@jonweber.8.756]

Dude...dude you ARE me lol. Pretty much everything I think about these guys you nailed.

[@aboutthemetal8783]

Living in the Midlands when the English extreme ( death ) metal scene was emerging I really feel that bolt throwers were let down by their management / record company as far as promoting the band and their music went , back in the day if Dig ( earache owner) or one of his mates didn't like you ,things for your band got difficult , he was about to sign my band , two of us were at the Nottingham office with Dig and a guy from lawn mower death , Dig played this guy his favourite song from my bands demo , as soon as his friend said that's just stupid fast guitars and double bass drumming , it's nothing new , Dig face changed , he asked us to do another demo with slower songs and said he will be signing us he just wanted to hear more of our slow stuff , after we left the office he never answered our calls .

[@metalmax930]

Mercenary is by far my favorite, all Bolt Thrower albums are awesome.

[@TheMisterReeves]

Barry thompsons son is my bestmate and its crazy how he makes me a cuppa whenever i go round

[@brettskie0752]

Thanks for such a good review of an EPIC band!!

[@ForcedtoGlark]

BTFFBT. This and Carcass my favourite metal bands.

[@DaveyBlade13]

To those once loyal now wreathed in crimson. Solemn reminder of silence sacrifice.

[@MrDippy-nm7xp]

Jo bench has some of the best bass tones and the fourth crusade is the first song I heard from them and I was sold

[@SteveFamine]

Those Once Loyal and Realm of Chaos is my top album. I call Those Once Loyal is their best album. I've listened to it HUNDREDS of times while painting/lifting/cardio/anything. Hey Mercenary was solid as well! Great breakdown! This band is the stepping stone and gateway into the genre for tons of kids!

[@Chen_0000]

Spearhead is one of my favourites from all albums

[@Rhowhat]

Inside the Wire was on a free cd that came with Terroriser magazine when I was around 16 years old. Had me hooked.

[@bingboompow8861]

It might be the best song on that album , I fucking LOVE honor valor pride .

[@aiLoveE]

Fourth Crusade production wasn,t that bad either ...

[@aiLoveE]

especially the bass guitar is monumental!!!

[@earlsfort1974]

Such a great band . The last album was brilliant. Maybe someday we'll get another

[@jeffnovak568]

According to the band, the book is closed on Bolt Thrower without Martin Kearns on drums.

[@ManoSaarinenCarmanen81]

Though Bolt Thrower is legendary band with great legacy but BT's spirit came back in the form of Memoriam which is also great band and they already have 3 awesome albums and 4th album in the making!

[@MrT6R6E6Y6]

This is the second, out of what I will spend the next year of my life watching. I'm 46, out of the womb MeTaL, absolutely love what you're doing !!!

[@45banshee]

Dude kept talking about the riffs and guitar work but I more focused on rhe drums damn the drums are killer from this band

[@Sergio-nb4hj]

Yesss, there is something very special about how absolutely crushing the drums are. Zero focus on impressing the listener on any front other than sheer power. Gives the riffs so much of their bludgeoning feel and the steamrolling quality people always bring up in reference to the band

[@kkech1]

*sigh* gotta put on the whole discography now

[@checopacheco420]

Thanks for sharing🍀🙏🤩🇲🇽💤

[@unnamedkorean7611]

i got into Bolt Thrower through the song Inside the Wire, it came into my spotify recommended ages ago and just fell in love with the band from there.

[@superunknown2812]

For Victory and Those once loyal and are killer albums

[@NickSwe]

while not 100 grindcore, I do find a huge amount of grindcore riffing in the first two albums, for example, the intros for drowned in terror and realm of chaos are riffs that napalm death wish they would have written for from enslavement to obliteration, and there are lots of those type of riffs on the album, but anyway, there are also lots of full on death metal riffs to be found so I consider those records grindcore/death metal.

[@aiLoveE]

Salvo, a filler? haha, not sure many would agree on that!!!

[@wendleysebelon204]

Bolt Thrower is fucking epic!!Their sound is like a megaton tank rolling over you. We need one more tour. Just one!

[@j.j._]

Bolt Thrower (my go to.)

[@alanwhyte1348]

Bolt thrower are the best death metal band ever seen them about 7 times each time they blow me away fucking unreal live for hounor has to be my favorite album love the review dude great job

[@entertherealmofchaos]

Did you mention that this is the best groove metal band in the universe?

[@scottjackson8771]

I love honor valor pride

[@williamj.6418]

This is definitely one band I am so glad I kept around. Especially the first three albums. Even on Discogs they are not cheap at all especially the first pressings. If they're available at all. 🤘

[@rftopaccess]

Someone stole my "in battle there is no law" cassette and to this day it still pisses me off on the rare occasion I think about it.

[@williamj.6418]

Steve-0 Kandido/ I always wondered what the karma was for steeling someone's music.

[@rftopaccess]

@@williamj.6418 maybe that person's cassette player ate up the tape would be my guess

[@marceldushnok3731]

Attack in the aftermath !!! ThanX to make this review ! Bolt Thrower was and is my favourite "Deathmetal" band.

[@autentyk5735]

"Riffs, riffs, riffs"... Why not even mention THE GENIUS of Barry Thompson's solos? Hey, Armageddon Bound is my favorite Bolt Thrower song too. Now, can you imagine anyone bringing up Comfortably Numb and leaving out... well, the best part? ?!

[@postlex]

autentyk Dude never put in a wrong note; incredible!

[@autentyk5735]

l post Word!

[@postlex]

My favorite is the solo in "... For Victory". Not "technical", but perfect; every single note.

[@autentyk5735]

l post l post Absolutely. That and Armageddon Bound are both my favorite ones. 7th Offensive is unique in the fact that it starts with an amazing solo. Other highlights for me include Behind Enemy Lines and A Symbol of 8, which in one version of their last album superbly closes an unparalleled discography. The level of what some people call musical empathy is astounding in Barry's musicianship. His solos are almost too harmonious and straight up beautiful for death metal, but damn, do they somehow work! I can only think of some of Andreas Kisser's Arise solos as those who share the exact same qualities.

[@BIGxBOSSxx1]

Solo’s are cheesy and dumb

[@benallanson7453]

Greatest fucking band of all time. Absolute perfection

[@silafuyang8675]

MERCENARY weakest album? You are deaf.