Onslaught no. 5 from death metal's longest serving war-machine, and yes, it's more downtuned grind. In fact, this is probably the pick of the band's albums. Boasting a monstrously thick overdubbed production, this retains the successful combination of furious tremolo-picking and mid-paced melodic riffing that has always formed the basis of the band's sound. On this record, the songwriting and musicianship has improved again, with the band putting a little more work into arrangements and song structure.
Bolt Thrower also retain their ability for creating atmosphere, so much so that this record practically reeks of gunsmoke. As usual, the lyrics are militaristic, but well thought-out and occasionally thought-provoking. Highlights are the epic title-track, the collossally heavy "Tank (Mk.I)" and the thrashy closer "Armageddon Bound", although its a consistantly good record, and, for me, something of a death metal classic. It's far from ground-breaking, but can be considered a further refinement of the Bolt Thrower style. So the usual Bolt Thrower caveats apply here: If you like grind/death metal, buy it, it's excellent. If you don't, there is absolutely nothing here that will change your mind.
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