Hail of Bullets - Warsaw Rising EP Review (Metal Blade) ~ BrooklynRocks: NYC Music Blog

Saturday, August 22, 2009

Hail of Bullets - Warsaw Rising EP Review (Metal Blade)

Hail of Bullets - Warsaw Rising EP ReviewHail of Bullets new EP, "Warsaw Rising", came out last month as a digital EP and a limited edition, hand-numbered 10" (available from Nuclear Blast).

The sound of the new EP follows in the same vein as the band's '06 full-length debut, Of Frost and War, and contemporaries like Celtic Frost and Bolt Thrower. There are two new songs on the disc, a deconstruction of Twisted Sister's "Destroyer", and three live songs from the band's first CD (recorded live in '08 at Germany's Party.San OpenAir Festival).

The two new cuts continue with the WWII theme - "Liberators" is 'a rumbling ode to one of the most magnificent bombers ever built', and the title track, "Warsaw Rising", 'tells the tragic tale of the bloody 1944 Warsaw uprising'. These two tracks have a mid-tempo groove powered by a chugging bass and pounding drums with some very clean guitar lines rising above the din. "Destroyer" is slower and "sludgier" than the first two cuts and is a recognizable but complete reinterpretation/reconstruction of the Twisted Sister song. The three live cuts are played with an energy and intensity that can't be captured on a studio recording. It is a clean and well-mixed live recording where all of the instruments and Martin van Drune's raw vocals come through clearly. There is also some crowd interplay which adds to the live sound ambiance.

This EP is a solid hold-over until the band releases a new full length.

Links:
Hail of Bullet's MySpace Profile