If there is one thing Germany does well apart from being ruthlessly organised and living up to several stereotypes, its good old thrash metal. Since their victory at the famous “Metal Battle” at Wacken Open Air in 2011, Dust Bolt have gone from strength to strength, signing with Napalm Records, releasing their debut in 2012 and now in 2014, ready to release their second album “Awake the Riot”.
As soon as “Living Hell” kicks in, you know what this album is going to be – no nonsense thrash. The furious drumming, pounding bass, tightly timed twin guitars with the occasional whammy-bar abuse and wailing and the aggressively spat vocals sound fantastic. It’s almost like a kick back to the legendary 80’s Bay Area thrash styling’s but the vocals are more modern, there are more shouts than screams but don’t let that put you off if that’s what you look for in thrash. “Soul Erazor”, the second track of the album starts off in an almost angel of death-esque way, complete with a Tom Araya styled scream and it is filled with tricky riffs to match which can help you overlook the more modern approach to the vocals.
“Beneath the Earth” has a groove to it which will keep you head banging along and evil harmony riffs to match before a fancy solo towards the end which is more melodic rather than shredding for the sake of shred. “You lose sight” starts off at a slightly slower pace but that soon ends once the first verse hits and the following track, the aptly titled “Agent Thrash” keeps up the frantic pace, a track which in the live setting would go down a storm. Clocking in at under four minutes with its tight riffs, groove filled breakdowns, fast paced solo and an 80’s styled scream of “Thrash!!” near the end of the song, it ticks all the boxes any thrash fan would have if you were to ask them what makes a great thrash song.
“Living a lie” has some impressive harmony lines which in parts have an almost NWOBHM feel to them and the solo is a demonstration of the band’s knack for writing a solo which combines speed, technique and the odd bit of wankery where needed. Title-track “Awake the Riot – The final war” is only a short track, weighing in at just under 2:30, but it’s packed full of everything you’d want in a thrash song with its riffs, drumming, soloing and the perfect tempo to give you headbang induced whiplash.
“Eternal Waste” is an intense number which has one of the best moments of the album round the 2:45 mark where it has an evil sounding breakdown before it kicks back in full tilt, with a relentless rhythm and fast paced solo before it gets to the epic ending – a twisting solo with some harmony parts and plenty of pounding riffs till the end. “Drowned in Blind Faith” starts off with a sinister guitar harmony part before exploding into the same short paced energy style the other shorter tracks on the album have and it goes straight into “Worlds Built to Deceive” which is a track where the rhythm section really stands out and shows the other side to the band.
The last two tracks are the longest, both over 7-minutes. “The Monotonous Distant Scream” is the first of the two, it starts off with a clean section and when the rest of the band comes in, it slows the album down. The powerful vocals and slightly slower feel to the song allow for Dust Bolt to really show what they can do, creating a song similar to some of the mid-80’s epics off the albums Metallica released when they could still be considered a thrash band. The song teases between slow paced and full on thrash assault, jumping into soloing and clean breakdowns at will and it all builds to a dramatic finale which leads the album into its final track “Future Shock” which is the longest track on the album. A track which has more urgency about it compared to the previous one. The groove filled number with plenty of fast paced riffs, gang vocals and blistering solo’s closes the album well.
Overall, as a thrash album, this does not disappoint. It has everything a good thrash album needs – speed, aggression, a tight rhythm section, powerful vocals and talented guitarists. It does go on for longer than you’d expect (almost an hour) but it is a solid recording and it puts down the Teutonic thrashers as a band to watch for the future. “Awake the Riot” sends out a message, and that message is simple – Thrash!
(8/10 Fraggle)
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