Riff Of The Week: Bolt Thrower Edition
The Champions Return
[*tank clattering intensifies*]
Last week we smashed our fave riffs of 2018 (so far…) up against each other in our First Quarter Edition. Similar to the last time they were submitted, our Molluscian overlords at Slugdge enacted the gastropodean horde to completely slime the polls and digest the rest of the competition in the kind of extracellular execration ritual we’ve now come to expect from the boys. Shame they couldn’t get the elusive 66.6% though. Mail Hollusca!
This week, I figured since it has been a while since we’ve had someone submit a riff from the long-reigning RotW MVP‘s, coupled with gold-medal Good-Guy™ Karl Willetts recently upsetting a buncha fucking morons who weren’t aware that Bolt Thrower did not condone fash-scum by wearing a bloody t-shirt stating as much, that we should dedicate this week’s comp to the legendary band. However, to make it a little more interesting, I stipulated that the entries had to be derived from the albums which have an average score of less than 85% according to the experts at Encyclopaedia Metallum (Metal Archives).
Let’s dive in…
The Akerstache
Bolt Thrower – ‘No Guts, No Glory’ (Riff @ 0:59)
Mercenary was my first Bolt Thrower album, and while it’s their “weakest” (like Bolt Thrower could ever be “weak”) album, it still kicks ass like nobody’s business.
GrungierNine0
Bolt Thrower – “In Battle There Is No Law” (Riff @ 1:00)
Realm of Chaos gets all the love, but I feel like too many people are sleeping on their debut. Seriously, this shit is gnarly as hell for ’88. You’ve got Karl’s narration (growl it with me gents), busting into that veeeery mosh-able main riff, which then transitions into absolute grind chaos. Like I said with that Havukruunu riff a few weeks back, voting against this is a crime.
ZMapp
Bolt Thrower – ‘Zeroed’ (Riff @3:35)
This might seem like heresy, but my favorite Bolt Thrower album is “Mercenary”. It opens with what I believe to be one of the best songs Bolt Thrower has ever played. It’s just as melodic as it is heavy and it’s got a killer (if a bit short) solo near the end. The riff in question is the ultimate demonstration of melody applied to ass-kicking. Enjoy.
Lacertilian
Bolt Thrower – ‘Mercenary’ (Riff @ 1:34)
Expected a few more entries from Honour Valour Pride after all the people claiming this was the worst of their albums, but in my reckoning, Mercenary is a far stronger album. And as is quite often the case with Bolt Thrower records, the title track is almost always what I consider to be the strongest track. Mercenary is no different, however, the atypical part here is that I find the verse riff to be the most crushing on offer in the song. Accompanied with that half-time drum beat, and a soldier-esque swagger, this riff fucking rules.
Next week we’re going to be doing something we may have done once before but it’s been so fucking long nobody can remember. We had a great request for a death metal BLEUGH Of The Week, but I’m opening it up to any indecipherable vocal grunt.
The only exception is if you submit a trademark Tom G. Warrior “OUGH/UGH” then you’re not even fucking trying, and subsequently, neither will I.
Submission details below.
