Dust Bolt – Sound & Fury
Dust Bolt – Sound & Fury
AFM Records
Release Date: 23/02/2024
Running Time: 45:36
Review by Richard Oliver
4/10
Being a thrash metal purist, I can understand that it has limitations as a genre. The genre has been going since the early 1980’s and whilst ideas can and have run out for a lot of bands, thrash can still sound absolutely amazing when it is played with passion and conviction and it is easy to identify the bands that still live for thrash and those that phone it in. Dust Bolt are a thrash metal band from Bavaria, Germany and have four solid albums of thrashing goodness to their name with their last album “Trapped In Chaos” being released in 2019. Of course a lot has happened in the world since that last release and whilst the pandemic happened and the world was plunged into uncertainty and fear, Dust Bolt took the opportunity to reassess their situation and what the band was about. The result is their fifth album “Sound & Fury” and it is bound to be a polarising release.
“Sound & Fury” is a major shift for the band with a far cleaner, polished and melodic sound with clear influences and nods to mainstream metal acts as well as big arena rock acts. This shift in the band’s sound is evident in songs such as ‘I Am The One’, ‘Burning Pieces’ and ‘Feel The Storm’ which are far more hook based and have a far more commercial sounding appeal to them. Frontman Lenny Bruce approaches this album very differently to previous Dust Bolt releases with a far more melodic vocal approach although his screams and barks do appear throughout though in a far more reduced capacity. The album does still have some roots in thrash metal with moments of thrashy riffing heard in songs such as ‘I Witness’ and ‘New Flame’ though the speed and the anger is far more toned down with a greater emphasis on chugs and groove. There are also some areas that Dust Bolt visit which are brand new territory for the band such as the disco meets thrash of ‘Disco Nnection’ which is the most unique song the band have done to date and that is met with album closer ‘Little Stone’ which is a bonafide rock ballad.
“Sound & Fury” is definitely Dust Bolt’s attempt at an arena sized sounding album but unfortunately the vast majority of the songs just come across as painfully generic with very little identity to them. I don’t know whether Dust Bolt have fallen out of love with thrash or not but in shifting their sound like they have, they just sound like a plethora of uninspiring and basic mainstream metal acts. I don’t know whether this is an artistic choice from the band to try something different or an attempt to appeal to a younger and more mainstream audience much like similar acts such as Ultra-Violence and Lost Society have done but I hope this is just a one-off experiment and not the future of the band as “Sound & Fury” is really not a good album. Thrash bands turning their back on the genre has never worked out well as all the 80’s thrash bands who went grunge or alternative in the 90’s will attest to. This album may gain Dust Bolt a new audience but it will also mean a good chunk of their fanbase who have enjoyed their thrash years turning their back on the band.
‘I Witness’ Official Music Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Leave Nothing Behind
02. Witness
03. I Am The One
04. New Flame
05. Burning Pieces
06. Sound And Fury
07. Love & Reality
08. Bluedeep
09. Disco Nnection
10. You Make Me Feel (Nothing)
11. Feel The Storm
12. Little Storm
LINE-UP:
Lenny Bruce – Vocals & Guitars
Nico Rayman – Drums
Exx Tom – Bass
Flo Dee – Guitars
LINKS:
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