If dirty, crusty, death n roll is your thing look no further. These Swedes have been together since 2002 and between them have an incredible number of bands under their collective bullet belts with Guitarist and vocalist Jonas Stallhammer still playing for the revived At the Gates.
These four tracks really wet my appetite and I need to go back and check out their back catalogue of long plays and splits, of which there are many. Their last full length “Death Mask Replica” in 2016 was the last to feature original bassist Butch Ekman who left to spend more time with his family. In stepped Roger Iderman who swapped the 6 strings he plays for notorious thrashers F.O.A.D for the thick ones for BOH. Still bringing the noise are ex Tribulation drummer Magnus Forsberg and ex Puffball Wolfie Soderback.
The quartet of compositions here are a raucous mix of crusty Motorhead inspired rock and roll. It reminds me a lot of Vried and Slegest with touches of Abbath’s I project all sieved through Lemmy’s underpants.
Opening with the title track Bombs of Hades hit the ears with a galloping riff and a bombastic drum beat that would make any Roman galley slaves row at triple time. The toms are working overtime here whilst a piercing guitar line threatens any birds flying overhead.
Bridge of Sighs has a sexy swagger to it, like a strippers anthem in a last gasp post-apocalyptic saloon. There is more than a smidge of Tom G warrior in here.
Do you like “Orgasmatron”? You are gonna love “Lungs” then. “Won’t you lend your lungs to me? Mine are collapsing! Pure Motorhead worship.
“Kamikaze” is the last course in this minute feast and it has a bit of an Arabian feel amidst it’s surging deathliness. This is the tale of the original “god-wind” from which the suicidal Japanese pilots took their name. Like an Eastern Sympathy for the Devil this track lays waste to both Kubla Khan and Sodom and Gomorrah in its swirling metallic attack.
Bombs of Hades have offered up a small but perfectly formed E.P of big sounding crusty rockers to blast the ear wax out during this cursed lockdown.
(7.5/10 Matt Mason)
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