Album review: HAIL OF BULLETS – III: The Rommel Chronicles

Metal Blade – Out Now.

Being both a huge Metal fan and a passionate historian with a particular fascination for all things WWII meant that I was hooked immediately back in 2006 on the old-school Death Metal quintet Hail Of Bullets.

With legendary vocalist Martin van Drunen (ex-Pestilence, Asphyx) once again on top form, the band has recently released its third full-length album “III: The Rommel Chronicles”; so what is now left to establish is how well this new album fares when compared to its hugely impressive predecessors.

Those of you who, like I, are already proud owners of the band’s previous studio releases “…Of Frost And War” and “On Divine Winds” understand very well how ‘riff-o-centric’ the band’s interpretation of Death Metal is and their latest musical offering is more of the same in this respect.

Rather than trying to appeal to a wider audience by polishing their sound and becoming more trend-orientated, what the guitar duo Stephan Gebedi/ Paul Baayens chose to do instead was to inject their simply-crafted, straight-forward old-school riffs with as much passion and energy as possible and have worked towards presenting their fans with a guitar sound worthy of their rich musical legacies. Have they succeeded? I certainly think so.

It literally takes half a minute for the main riff of the groove laden “Swoop Of The Falcon” to let you know that this new Hail Of Bullets albums means serious business! Featuring numerous head banging riffs, but operating on pretty varied rhythms, the appeal of compositions like “Pour Le Merite”, “DG-7” and “To The Last Breath Of Man And Beast” is strong and instant, while the band’s Doom Metal pedigree is manifested in the Bolt Thrower influenced “DAK”.

Straight forward and rhythmically adventurous in equal measure, “The Desert Fox”, “Tobruk” and “Farewell To Africa” will leave you thoroughly entertained, while the up-tempo riff of “The Final Front” will seriously test your head banging skills.

As far as closing themes are concerned, no other song could be as appropriate as the five and a half minute “Death Of A Filed Marshal” – a song whose mournful lead guitar melody and growling vocals are of the utmost quality.

Hail Of Bullets may not be the most innovative of bands when it comes to approaching and crafting Death Metal tunes, but they are in possession of two very important gifts – the knowledge and talent to create compositions that are simple in structure, but enormous in their appeal.

A product of a simple but truly winning formula, “III: The Rommel Chronicles” in an album that certainly deserves to bare the band’s name on its cover and is a worthy addition to the Dutch outfit’s steadily-expanding discography.

John Stefanis

Rating: **** (4.0/5.0)

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 3 November 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 29 October 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 11 November 2024

ARCANE MOON Hello Sun (indie)
S8NT ELEKTRIC XTC (Long Branch Records)
ARCANA KINGS Here We Go (Curtain Call Records)
KLOGR face The Unknown (Zeta Factory)
BEYOND UNBROKEN Dance With The Dead (FiXT)
REVENGIN Decadent Feeling (Wormholedeath)

Featured Albums w/c 11 November 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)