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Tra i tanti gruppi death che avrebbero sicuramente meritato maggior successo, come non citare gli inglesi Bolt Thrower? Questi cinque ragazzi di Coventry (in realtà quattro ometti e una donzella), come tanti colleghi d’oltremanica, esordirono sul finire degli anni ’80 mostrando un sound influenzato dal grind degli amici Napalm Death. La storia poi ci insegna che il loro death/grind primordiale si trasformò in death metal puro (come avvenne, più o meno, per Carcass, Napalm Death e Benediction).
Nel 1991 il gruppo diede alle stampe il leggendario "War Master", ad oggi ritenuto il loro capolavoro nonché uno dei punti più alti raggiunti dal death metal a livello mondiale, seguito, nel ’92, da "The IVth Crusade". A mio avviso ci troviamo in presenza di un album migliore rispetto al predecessore: migliore nel sound, più rotondo e pieno rispetto a quello già roboante di "War Master"; migliore anche nella tecnica dei musicisti, con riff di chitarra più “ponderati” e dal gusto doom, mentre il batterista, nonostante faccia uso di groove elementari, calza a pennello con l’atmosfera dell’album, lenta e cupa, dall’incedere inesorabile caratteristico dei Bolt Thrower. Non da ultimo il vocalist Karl Willets, che col suo growl rauco e basso conferisce solennità all’opera. Notevoli sono i testi, as usual incentrati sulla guerra, ma stavolta non si tratta di “poteri sconosciuti rilasciati sull’umanità”, questa volta la battaglia è reale ed è registrata nei libri di storia: il tema è quello delle crociate.
La title-track è quanto basta per comprendere la direzione intrapresa lungo quest’album: riff oscuri si alternano a classiche sfuriate a tutta birra, e così sia per 53 minuti durante i quali troviamo rimandi a "War Master" ("Cenotaph" e "Embers" vi dicono niente?) ma anche pezzi dove spunta una potenza trascinante ("Where Next to Conquer") o una solennità inaspettata ("As the World Burns") e non manca spazio per una riflessione sugli orrori della guerra ("Through the Ages").
Ad avvalorare questa maturazione stilistica anche l’abbandono dell’artwork targato Games Workshop a favore di un’opera di Eugène Delacroix. Tutto sommato un bel disco di death metal senza tanti compromessi: consigliato agli amanti dei Bolt Thrower e a chi è alla ricerca di qualcosa di diverso dal solito.
P.S.: se vi procurate la ristampa trovate anche le ottime “Crown of Life” e “Lament” come bonus track ;-).
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 The IVth Crusade (04:59)
Mortified by the lack of conscience,
Our sanctity bears no relevance.
Insignificance is our existence,
Hear the litany of life's persistence.
Our pleas for mercy fall upon
unhearing ears,
Take my life, my soul, wipe away these
bitter tears.
Vanquished in the name of your god,
One of the same to whom we all pray.
Vanquished in the name of your god,
One of the same to whom we onced
prayed
Try to close my mind - From the
screams I hear,
Repentance is denied, the
conformation of my fear.
03 Embers (05:18)
From the glowing fragments of
what remains,
The soul shall rise from amongst
the flames,
From smouldering ruins the
power grows,
Feel the pulse of fear as we
regain control.
From the ashes of a million dead,
The children of tomorrow now are led.
Into the darkness as emotions slowly
Memortes of the past cannot be saved.
Blowing down to face your new
found life,
There is no escape, you must comply,
This resurrected hate can't be denied.
Asking for redemption - we laugh and
lok away,
There shall be no exception - Revenge
on man begins today.
You thought that it was all over, But its
only just begun,
For your life is mortal, Look to what fate
will become.
Learn to live afraid of what may be,
For we possess this world - All that
you see,
Your life is no more than a game to me.
Visions of the future reflected in
the past,
Existing in the present which surely
cannot last.
From the void terror takes its hold,
Face the wrath as history unfolds.
04 Where Next to Conquer (03:50)
Lost on a voyage with no destiny,
Forgotten original ideology.
Generations born and died,
Their intentions misplaced
through time,
Another world falls to its knees,
With vast contempt your hatred breads,
Nothing left for us to slaughter
Annihilation achieved
Where next to conquer?
Civilisations of the past'
faced attrition now ripped apart,
Moving onwards to another war,
Into battle to die once more.
An endless spiral of depravity,
Mankind's journey throughout infinity.
Where next to conquer?
08 Spearhead (06:47)
Spearhead marching onward,
Take my soul sacrificial offering.
Your initial strike taken by surprise,
Now left alone, condemned
by my pride,
Drained of all emotion - body now an
empty shell,
There's nothing left - you've taken all
away
[chorus]
Adrenaline flows,
Now filled with anger,
Just what will be the ourcome,
Mass confusion, tears my mind.
Spearhead - No victory sublime,
Another fallen victim - I will
not beg to you,
Spearhead - to which I cannot hold
With clear perception my
destiny unfolds.
I look to the reflection, fail to
recognise what's seen
A figure clothed in hatred, I pray that
this cannot be,
Faced by this total stranger - aware
of your creation
No vision of the former self-
Controlled by your instruction,
Onward you advance, left in a
mindless trance.
Hypnotised by you will, desire
is now instilled,
Now staring face to face, your eyes
filled with hate,
Held by your contempt, both by
weakness and by strength.
[repeat chorus]
09 Celestial Sanctuary (04:38)
As the sky turns black,
And the earth sleeps in peace,
Roaming the clouds,
In search of a sacred place.
Spirits soar higher, to a land where
they are king,
Mortals shells left with you, within
shadows they dwell.
Take me far away-deep
within the dream,
There I can be free from life's misery
Blood rushes through my veins,
I can feel exhilaration,
The freedom of my mind can take
me far beyond.
Take me far away-deep within
the dream,
There clearly seen life's unreality,
Sanctuary.
Take me far away-deep within
the dream,
There I can be free from life's misery.
Each night I await the call of my
silent quest,
To run through the wind alive in
the darkness,
Take me far away-deep within
the dream,
There clearly seen life's unreality,
As the dawn gets closer-to my body
I shall return,
To live amongst you all, for nightfall
I yearn.
10 Dying Creed (04:17)
Fallen are the people of the decaying race
Now proclaim the legacy inherited too late
Too late
Mankind - The dying creed, reared on ignorance and greed
On suffering we feed devouring all beyond our needs
A path of self-destruction they cannot see
Regarding their only interest in profitability
They cannot see
Open up your mind before it's too late
Unlock the chains of confinement that we create
Grasping all you can - Overloaded capacity
Nothing can conceal instinctive rapacity
A movement to disaster could this be the final plan
Blinded by our avarice the closing chapter
Extinction of man
Mankind - The dying creed, reared on ignorance and greed
On suffering we feed devouring all beyond our needs
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