Hail of Bullets – On Divine Winds

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Martin van Drunen, one of the most unique-sounding death metal vocalists of all time, returns with his latest band, Hail Of Bullets, and delivers yet another slab of pulverizing and unforgiving old-school death metal. On Divine Winds is Hail Of Bullet’s sophomore album, just two years after their debut Of Frost And War. Don’t expect the band to change their winning formula, though. Like Motörhead, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. This time, the lyrical inspiration comes from the Pacific theater of World War 2, whereas their first album focused on the German-Russian campaign. While the Pacific might be sunnier and warmer than Russia, the tracks are still grim as ever. Hail of Bullets must have taken notes from van Drunen’s other legendary bands like Asphyx and Bolt Thrower and learned to make their style of death metal heavy and slow. Don’t expect any breakneck speeds on this album, but be prepared to bang your head. Operation Z kicks off the album and is going to be one of the faster tracks. The guitar tone on the album is another high-point that current bands should look into replicating. It’s grinding but still domineering. There are solo’s, but they’re the kind that aren’t overbearing on the rest of the track and fit in nicely with the overall feel of the song, such as the one’s on the mid-paced The Mukden Incident and the slow-but-heavy Guadalcanal. However, the album’s shining moment comes near the end of the album with the spectrum-encompassing Kamikaze. It starts off with one of the fastest speed’s Hail of Bullet’s has ever done, but then grinds to a near-halt and starts pounding the drums and the crunching guitars in your face to make you feel like you’re in a bunker getting bombed by battleships. This song is what Hail of Bullets is: old-school death metal in a new-school way. Hail Of Bullets is definitely not going to be well-received by the ADHD generation of metalheads, but the old-school bangers and the kids who were taught well will definitely enjoy this gem of an album. I guess we’ll be seeing Martin van Drunen and his band again in 2012 with an album about the European campaign of World War 2 and I, for one, can’t wait.

Written by Jackson May
More: 2010, Albums, Death Metal, Quick.Play Reviews, Hail of Bullets