Artist: Hail Of Bullets
Album: III The Rommel Chronicles
Release Date: Out now
There’s something about metal music that those of us who aren’t exactly metal fans find a little, well, scary and Hail Of Bullets, a Dutch metal band, have definitely stormed in with a heavy album that’s definitely not for the faint-hearted. In their own words, the album “will crush EVERYTHING in its path” (eek!) so if you prefer your music a little more jolly (especially now it’s nearly Christmas, sort of) then you should probably steer well clear. If you like metal, however, hey, why not give it a go.
‘Swoop of the Falcon‘ begins with some sort of weird, World War-esque, olde worlde singing before double pedal drums, unabashed guitars and guttural roars take over. Not wishing to sound like I’m turning into my mother but isn’t this just noise? ‘Pour le Merite‘ sounds slightly more promising at first with a more approachable introduction but as soon as the vocals kick in again there isn’t much room for any sort of enjoyment unless you really are in to your METULLL.
By the time track three, ‘DG-7‘, the only sensible option seems to be to turn this record off and stick the telly on. The band have got a fairly large Facebook following though, so perhaps we better persevere. Saying that, ‘To The Last Breath of Man and Beast‘ is just a step too far…
Following a quick listen of each of the following tracks, there’s nothing particularly different or exciting about any of the tracks and it all becomes one hideous cacophony, as each typical characteristic of metal music is checked off on a tick list. Although the bands of the genre can seem a little intimidating, after a listen of the album it’s evident that, rather than appearing as tough guys, it all just seems a little bit silly.
That said, if you’re into your metal it’s probably worth checking out. It just all sounds the same to me.
3/10
Reviewer: Kathryn Black
