Bolt Thrower
Honour - Valour - Pride


3.5
great

Review

by AriDoe USER (15 Reviews)
April 30th, 2019 | 28 replies


Release Date: 2001 | Tracklist

Review Summary: An otherwise great record that just feels like its missing something

During their time, Bolt Thrower were widely considered to be among the most legendary bands in death metal. Their distinctive style of super heavy, mid tempo, riffing and historically accurate, war focused lyrics put them apart from the hordes of gore obsessed death metal acts who often seemed more concerned with shock value than crafting good songs. This was reinforced by the band's sheer consistency- Bolt Thrower managed to release great album after great album, even when many bigger death metal bands began to decline quality, yet their seventh full length album, "Honour Valour Pride," is often glossed over or forgetten about entirely. Why is this?

Well the answer is simply that original frontman Karl Willetts, who's vicious growls and historical lyricism were an essential part of the band's distinct sound. Karl had left the band after their previous album, "For Victory" for personal reasons and in his place joined Benediction vocalist Dave Ingram. Now Dave is by no means a bad vocalist, but his style just doesn't vibe well with Bolt Thrower. His voice lacks that distinct bite that Karl had and his performance here feels weaker and more phoned in than his work in Benediction. The lyrics seem to have taken a hit too, while they still deal with the usual theme of war, they seem to be pretty vague and generalized; with songs about Sabateurs("Inside the Wire"), genocide("7th Offensive"), and hidden agendas("Covert Ascension") as opposed to Karl's lyrics which often directly described certain historical conflicts with great detail and accuracy.

Its a shame really, because outside of those factors "Honour Valour Pride," is classic Bolt Thrower through and through. Their signature style of groovy riffs are, the rolling double bass drums, and generally bleak atmosphere are all here in spades and hit just as hard as any other Bolt Thrower album. They even throw in some nice melodic solos like in the opening of "7th Offensive" to shake things up a little. This is all complimented by the band's most modern production job yet; the album sounds full and crisp without being overly clean as a lot of 2000s extreme metal tended to be. The guitar tone in particular is absolutely pulverizing. The band perhaps could have stood to throw in some variety though, as the tracks do somewhat blend together in the second half.

"Honour Valour Pride" could very well have been considered among Bolt Thrower's best albums if not for its unfortunate change in vocalists and slightly repetitive nature. That being said, its still a great slab of death metal that any fan of the genre should be able to enjoy even despite its faults.



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user ratings (285)
3.4
great

Comments:Add a Comment 
AriDoe
April 30th 2019


280 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Saw one Bolt Thrower album without a review, thought id fix that

bloc
May 1st 2019


70683 Comments


One of their weaker albums, but still a 3.5 imo

StrikeOfTheBeast
May 1st 2019


8382 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

it's ight

blou52
May 1st 2019


341 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Bolt Thrower got one of the closest sounding replacements for Willets, and they still couldn't capture their sound with him

TheNotrap
Staff Reviewer
May 1st 2019


19009 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

Nice to see this album reviewed



Not the same without Karl Willetts, but it has great tracks



Azog
May 1st 2019


1070 Comments


Better than Mercenary, but that doesn't say much. Vocals aren't really the problem here. It's the lame effortless songwriting, what makes this album a god damn snooze fest. It just plods along, making 45 minutes of filler.

oltnabrick
August 2nd 2020


40765 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

damn wtf

cageofman
January 15th 2021


261 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

The Music is still killer, the intro to Contact - Wait Out, the riffs in Inside the Wire, 7th offensive and K-machine especially - but yes if only it was still Karl Willets

parksungjoon
January 15th 2021


47231 Comments

Album Rating: 2.0

>Vocals aren't really the problem here. It's the lame effortless songwriting, what makes this album a god damn snooze fest. It just plods along, making 45 minutes of filler.



Hard agree, except I did like mercenary better



Faenrir
March 26th 2021


1170 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Opinions are like assholes. Some of them really stink.



Album rules.

zaruyache
October 14th 2021


27750 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

i like this boltd throwr band

Dewinged
Staff Reviewer
November 25th 2021


32179 Comments


Pretty solid.

Rowhaus
June 8th 2022


6461 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Happy to give this a rating bump m/

Em1994
August 10th 2022


1118 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

This is better than I remember. Good shit

JokineAugustus
September 5th 2022


10943 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

The band never made a bad album

Jurtz
July 22nd 2023


2864 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Don't compare this to Mercenary, it's one of their best



This is their weakest album imho, but still a good one

Ryus
September 23rd 2023


37886 Comments


solid af

Flugmorph
September 23rd 2023


34905 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

band rules

Jurtz
September 24th 2023


2864 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

[2]

metalphil
October 12th 2023


909 Comments


Not a fan of the vocals on this album for some reason



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