Call me a geek but I love the way the cursor changes to the Hail Of Bullets logo on their fucken MySpace page. There are some people in the metal scene that literally have molten metal in their blood and Martin Van Drunen must have molten bullet lead coursing through his veins like the rest of the Hail Of Bullets camp. Since the release of their debut “…Of Frost And War” in 2008 battle and war themed metal has risen steadily, though the concept has always been around in death metal for years courtesy of Bolt Thrower I guess. That said bands like Hail Of Bullets and God Dethroned have taken it to a completely new level with full concept albums by the latter in the form of “Passiondale” and Hail Of Bullets sophomore album “Of Divine Winds” a translation of sorts on the word Kamikaze.
Putting together a concept album about war would probably be greeted with raised eyebrows by many such is the over use of the topic but when the ideas are fresh and the execution delivered with clinical accuracy then it is a damn good. The band has decided to focus on the rise and fall of the Japanese armed forces during and before the Second World War and start their album with the foreboding intro “The Eve Of Battle” which calmly ends with aircraft bombing signalling the start of the attack on Pearl Harbour called “Operation Z”. Initially you’re greeted with a cleaner sound than the debut, though no less caustic on the guitar sound as Van Drunen bellows his lyrics in his usual inimitable fashion. The cymbal smashing creates the audio accompaniment to continuous bombing as guitarists Paul Baayens and Stephan Gebedi match it with aircraft like dive bombing leads. The huge drop in tempo, similar to Asphyx it has to be said, has that aftermath atmosphere.
Stepping back a few years and “The Mukden Incident” relays the aural equivalent of terrorism when the Japanese set a pretext for war by blowing up a railroad which was blamed on the Chinese, thereby inciting an invasion as a means to take over the region of Manchuria for inclusion in the Japanese Empire at the time. The story is controversial as the song begins with a huge double bass influx similar to Bolt Thrower. Again the lead work is poignant and fitting. Without going into the details of each song “Strategy Of Attrition” has a more Swedeath style, fat and dirty like the song title suggests. “Full Scale War” is exactly that with some fantastic riffs and a colossal double bass thud extravaganza.
“Guadalcanal” is a monstrous beating of a song matching the hostility and vicious battles that took place on said island in the Pacific Ocean. The crushing pulverising stomp the song possesses is a headbangers dream, with a crunching driving riff and steady menacing beat. The bass kick having artillery like intermittent bombardment.
There are few songs about the futility and dire losses of war than “Tokyo Napalm Holocaust”, a sinister and truly frightening piece of music capturing the essence of the relentless assault on Tokyo which apparently devastated over 50% of the city in the latter stages of WWII. The track isn’t fast, just threateningly oppressive and deeply disturbing with wailing leads and a punishing rhythm. This is matched by “Sugar Loaf Hill”, about the Battle Of Okinawa, an enormous sea and land attack in the Pacific War. Again the band opts for a slower more punishing pace with atmospheric leads and gritty riffs. There couldn’t be a Japanese Empire concept album without a reference to the Kamikaze tactics employed through sheer desperation than a well thought out strategy and simply called “Kamikaze”. The songs filth ridden riffing style is adorned by sound bites of dive bombing and a tsunami like thunderous pace, yet equipped with some exquisite harmony guitar work I thought captured the hopelessness of war and the terrible waste of life it creates. The album finishes with the atmospherically charged “To Bear The Unbearable”, a monstrously heavy doom death avalanche of emotive guitar work and caustic vocal torture. A fitting epitaph to an album that balances the violence of war and conflict with the heart rending devastation it entails.
If you think Hail Of Bullets can’t top their debut then think again as these guys know exactly how to make you stop, listen and take fucken orders.
http://www.hailofbullets.com
http://www.myspace.com/hailoffuckenbullets
