1986 was a great year. Master Of Puppets, Pleasure To Kill, Obsessed By Cruelty and Reign In Blood were all released that year surely making it the finest hour for Thrash Metal as a genre. Germans Dust Bolt clearly agreed with this statement providing a faithful yet enjoyable romp on this sophomore release. Firmly caught between the vicious all-out war of Slayer with generous helping of Kreator heaviness, the band impress with some searing fretwork but snarling leads and breakneck tempos. Dust Bolt’s sound wins zero points for individuality but this a record made by guys who clearly play music for the joy of doing so.

‘Soul Erazor’ even has reprising Tom Araya’s scream from the beginning of ‘The Antichrist’. It’s a faithful yet powerful take on a genre that has become somewhat stagnant in recent years save the likes of Evile, Gama Bomb and Municipal Waste.

The band experiment with song structures well enough too. The two and a half minute blast of the title track shows Dust Bolt can write a moshpit terror but there are several over the four minute mark.

The guitar playing of Flo and singer Lenny has much to do with the band’s appeal, with the duo delivering ripping solos tempered with intricate harmonies on the headrush of ‘Living A Lie’.

Sure the album has few surprises and a couple of duffers like the formulaic ‘Eternal Waste’ dent the momentum. Finale ‘The Monotonous Distant Dream’ is a double edged sword. On one hand this seven minute epic which adds a delicious touch of menace and foreboding but placing it as the centrepiece of the record would have perhaps been of greater benefit rather than tagging it on at the end.

Sure this Bayern quartet may own much to their Teutonic forbearers but there is enough to have you believe there is better to come from these fellas. A touching homage to the greats of the genre ‘Awake The Riot’ will have you hunting for those classic 80s records before you give this lot another spin.

 

6/10

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