The first time I heard Bolt Thrower was in their Realm of Chaos (Slaves to Darkness) from 1989. It turned my Metal mind to full tilt, opening up a whole other level of brutality and extremity. Living in England during the burgeoning Death Metal scene was a special time that I’ll always cherish being a small listener in a big pond of fellow Headbangers.

Enter World Eaters, not to be confused with the other World Eater from New Jersey, this band of World Eaters hails from Ontario; Hounds of Hell is their brand spanking new EP and dammit I like it. This is what I lovingly call ‘meat and potatoes’ Death Metal: no frills, just balls-deep aggression and crushing riffs.

With a new drummer; the core of two original members became a five-piece, Winter Stomp (drums), Adam Ujhelyi (lead vocals), Jacob Duke (guitars), and Michael Siegrist (bass, synths) all joining founding member David Gupta (guitars) PLUS adding additional gravitas is Sarafina Bortolon-Vettors (Bonnie Trash, Hand Drawn Dracula) and Piers Oolvai’s affected bass clarinet.

Alright, introductions have been made; how is the music? Burly. “What does he mean by that? Burly?” it means that the riffs are fat as fuck, the drums thrash and blast with extreme, bombastic delivery. Straight out of the gate “Armoured Spearhead” comes rising on beautiful strings and Sarafina begins a haunting monologue that gives way to that beloved chug that Bolt Thrower made so famous all those years ago. It’s an intense track and sets the tone of the album.

Coming in at 30:36 makes it the perfect EP. The second track “The Commissar Shoots” has a Benediction feel to it circa Subconscious Terror and The Grand Leveller. It’s explosive and rumbling, leaving eardrums in its wake, all shriveled and used up.

The artwork compliments of Adam Ujhelyi fits the music perfectly, grim and effectively dystopian. Hounds of Hell was mixed at Twilight Plateau and I think it sounds great, it has a bit of demo feeling that lends to the brutality, not hindering the instruments into a sloppy organization of grotesqueries,  instead allowing them to stand up on legs of steel.

“Death Korps” continues with the lumbering attack pattern with a magnificent solo making it my favorite song. “Flash of Green” is fucking killer, a satisfying throwback to the pummeling In Battle There is no Law. That raw, face-melting feeling that made early 90s Death Metal so amazing, it’s all over Hounds of Hell in the best possible way.

Ending on a powerful 8:45 minutes is “Expedition/ Tomb World” a fucking beast of a song. It makes me think of the early archeological digs around the Pyramids, and movies about mummies and ancient Egyptian culture.

As a whole, this is a culmination of songs from their various demos that have been redone for this debut EP. At the end of the day, Hounds of Hell is a great homage to the glory days of brutal WW2-inspired Death Metal a la; Hail of Bullets, Benediction, and of course Bolt Thrower. Get it from your favorite source and let the beating commence!

[Visit the band's website]

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