NWOWTM an acronym I’ve made up for New Wave Of Worldwide Thrash Metal, more or less sums up what has happened to the thrash metal genre in recent years, well I’d say from about 2004ish with an exponential explosion of bands popping up all over the planet, covering every aspect of the 80s thrash scene each with its own view on how it should be either duplicated, enhanced or shifted to meet the requirements of a modern audience. Hell the pioneers of the scene are mostly still tearing up stages all over the place and with the exception of a few wimp out bastards the father figures of the scene are still showing how it should be done. Cynical old buggers like me do crave for the days of the 80s, but that doesn’t make me so short sighted that I can’t take on board the fact that many newer thrash acts outstrip some of the 80s bands with considerable ease, in terms of playing and song writing. This description can be applied to Germany’s Dust Bolt, whose name I find a little strange and I wonder if something has been lost in translation somewhere along the lines. One thing is for sure the monosyllabic two word name is easy to remember, though I think their logo is boring, spike it up please guys as it looks like the new Mortal Infinity logo to me and too core like.

Anyway enough of my elitist rambling and onto the bands full length debut that was preceded by an EP in 2010 called “Chaos Possession”, and the first point is that Dust Bolt love Bay Area thrash; completely and utterly. One look at the cover art will have you thinking Municipal Waste with its slime infested demon escaping from a pool of green goo, but musically this is much more complex and involved. Opening with “Opulence Contaminated”, which isn’t an intro surprisingly, and immediately the short sharp riff technique has that crystal clear Bay Area shredding about it. The vocals are far more macho than I expected, as the verse lines are venomously raged. The speed is swift but not so ridiculous that you can’t head bang to it. Now as the opener is firmly underway and approaching its close there are the tell tale signs of a break down. Oh dear I hear you say, but in its defence it is used as a punctuation point for the upcoming solo.

Into “Violent Abolition” and my references turn to Testament on the West Coast and Overkill on the East Coast, of the US obviously, with some trademark vicious riffing that borders thrashcore speed. The best thrash albums are those that are packed with variations in tempo as “March Thru Pain” is longer but possesses a good Slayer like riff break and accompanying cymbal work. I did find “Shattered By Reality” a very interesting listen as the tune is milder and uses a riff change to excellent effect making it like a song within a song. The tone is very like newer Kreator too, as a side note. I’ll never say that Dust Bolt’s debut is amazing and one that you all should check out but all the hall marks of a quality act on the right path are here in ton quantities as by the time you get to “Oblivion” the speed is ramped up into Dew-Scented territory but with no blasts. The solo is good and elongated for maximum effect as the song is dotted with gritty riff breaks. Closing the album is “Deviance” a tune where the band has enlisted the services of one Derrick Green (Sepultura), he must have been very impressed with the band, as am I. This closing tune has some traits of Evile from their debut album time, and not the cleaner more technical stuff. This is a really promising debut from Dust Bolt, containing everything one expects from clean thrash metal, with top quality playing and conviction. Spending your money on this album will be worth your effort.

7.5/10 (Martin Harris)

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