III The Rommel Chronicles

Great.

I'd recommend this album to any fans of the so called "old school" death metal. I don't know why people keep making these type of differences in between bands. Hail of bullets is a pretty recent act in the extreme metal scene, maybe it's because this band is made up by veterans that really know how to create a good death metal record.I guess HOB is a band that need no introduction. There are two reasons why I love this band.The first one is the fact that Ed Warby is behind the drums and the dude is a frikin genius when it comes to keep things enjoyable and natural. No ridiculous speed or long blast beat passages whatsoever! Hands down. The guy is a legend.The second would be the war-themed lyrics and the fact that every HOB release is a lesson in history! Martin is a great lyricist. He really knows how to write about WWII. His voice is amazing and completely suitable for the kind of riffs and the overall style of the band.This time around the story focuses on one of the well-known yet less appreciated Nazi generals Erwin Rommel. To say that the guy was a great war connoisseur and a very respectable enemy of the British in the South Africa front is not lying at all.Some say that Rommel was fighting in the "wrong side or at the wrong historical time" the Nazi Germany is despicable as we all know it and they sadly gave mankind one of the darkest times we've ever had. But Rommel was without a doubt the only Nazi general that had the decency of following the normal war rules. Rommel treated prisoners with dignity and never fell in that whirlwind of hatred that the Nazis are known for.So what we have here is a conceptual album of Rommel's life dressed up with quality death metal. There are lots of groovy riffs and awesome metal arrangements here that will keep the listener hooked until the end of the final track.All in all this is a superb release of the Dutch band that once again has set the Death Metal genre on top of the game.Absolutely killer record!

pure metal

This band has vocals by Marten van Drumen. He along with the other members of this band have been involved In many projects and are great musicians. I think this is one of the best for "13" It has great sound stage, lots of bass, guitar rifts and of course the vocals are great. This is a "must have" album and is 46 minutes with 10 tracks

I haven't heard anything like this in a while. I believe that this CD is a keeper and I would recommend this CD to everybody.Thanks.

It may surprise many newbie listeners to learn that the Netherlands' Hail Of Bullets are, even with only a mere three albums under their belts, are actually already a significantly important and influential band. And furthermore, they can play their instruments historically well! That fact is made absolutely certain on full-length effort number three, 2013's "III: The Rommel Chronicles."But what is the not-so-secret key to HOB's success and capability of being able to shred with the big dogs? The fact that they are a death metal supergroup is one big reason. Indeed, the old-school extreme metal throwback outfit (who are strongly influenced by the likes of Dismember, Death, Morbid Angel, Autopsy, Immolation, Vader, Incantation, and Nineties-era Napalm Death), are comprised of members who have spent time in such extremely highly well-respected institutions as Bolt Thrower, Asphyx, Pestilence, and Thanatos. So the point, here, is that these are several very talented instrumentalists, and guys that also know darn well what they are doing when it comes to songwriting, too!"III: The Rommel Chronicles" begins in a manner similar to that of many metal albums (and, moreover, an even greater number of death metal albums): Fading in with an ominous wall of guitar feedback before locking onto a solid, chugging main riff. This is then backed up by pummeling, interlocking drum blasts, and when it is topped off by gravelly, growly death vocals, the end result is an opener ("Swoop Of The Falcon") that evokes many a Bolt Thrower classic. Fitting, then, for "Pour Le Merite" to be its neighbor, as it is a shot of pure, white-hot adrenaline that hits the listener like a, um, lightning bolt. The number, a blast of pure, unadulterated hyper-kinesis, does eventually slow down, though, and adopts a meaty, hefty chug, as a way of proving the point that Hail Of Bullets never totally abandon or lose track of a song's central groove.Working in reverse order to the song described above, though, "DG-7" opens with a bottom-heavy, filthy-sounding guitar chug before blasting off into hyper-speed, grindcore-worthy/leaning territory complete with rip-roaring death-thrash riffage and pummeling blast beats. A few blistering, screaming guitar solos are uncorked, here, as well. "To The Last Breath Of Man And Beast," however, pulls out all of the stops and just plain rips from start to finish, playing like a brief but potent, death-grinding blast of buzzsaw guitar crunch and really dexterous drumming."DAK" again finds HOB dabbling in various degrees of tempo variation, as it opens on a lurching, restrained, and even borderline doomy introductory note. The end result is a song that does a superb job of breaking up the album's monotony, and one that it as equally-as-terrific at balancing the two extremes of speeds: Blistering death-thrash and mid-tempo death `n' roll. And working as that song's sequel (but also a total anomaly of it), most of the ensuing "Desert Fox" is blistering and thrashy, although it does eventually evolve into more restrained territory, venturing into the realms of exotically melodic leads and mid-tempo, rhythmically marching cadences.The biggest highlight of the album's second half has got to be its closing epic, "Death Of A Field Marshal." It is primarily centered around brutal, pounding, string-bending, ominously thunderous riffing and a sick, stomach-churning main groove, but is also highlighted by some positively creepy-sounding spoken word dialogue (that is uttered in a foreign language of some kind), and a surprise ending. Here, the band traffic in the almost shocking use of twin-guitar harmonies, and do so to excellent effect. But just because that's one of the set's biggest standouts in no way means that it is its only one. Also make sure to check out "Tebruk," which is home to blistering riffage, machine gun drumming, and some of the record's longest and most memorable soloing; and "The Final Front," which boasts another pounding, thundering riff slice and more emphatic soloing. (The soloing, here, is wild and careening, yet also simultaneously manages to be fairly melodic.)The only real thing that comes to mind when this reviewer thinks about things about "Rommel" to change is its playing time. Clocking in at under forty-six minutes in length total, one cannot help but to maybe think that the release could use another song or two. But that is the only thing that stands in its way from being a totally satisfying, auspicious, and commanding slab of vicious death metal that every extremist currently walking the face of this earth should take notice of.

Excelent

DIGIPACK EDITION IS WONDERFUL. TRUST ME...MIGHTY, INCREDIBLE OLD SCHOOL DEATH METAL! STILL PIONEERING INSIDE A GENRE IN WHICH FALLING INTO THE LINES OF BEING 'GENERIC' IS EASY. VAN DRUNEN, I SALUTE YOU, DESERT FOX.

Hail of Bullets sind ein absoluter Garant für brutalen Old-School-Death-Metal, der keinen Fan kallt lässt. Wer die ersten beiden Scheiben mochte kann blind zugreifen. Das Konzeptalbum über Feldmarschall Rommel ist stilistisch wieder näher am Debüt "Of Frost And War", was mir persönlich besser gefällt, als das Zweitwerk "On Divine Winds". Martin van Drunens brutaler, unverkennbarer Gesang setzt den in bester Bolt Thrower Manier alles platt walzenden, meist im Midtempo angesiedelten Hymnen die Krone auf. Pflichtkauf!

Persönlich finde ich "Of frost and war" noch ein wenig stimmiger, einfach weil in meinem Kopf der Death Metal eher im kalten Russland zuhause ist, als in der heißen Wüstensonne, aber es ist ein würdiger Nachfolger. Die Jungs geben wieder ordentlich Gas!Bis auf den wirklich ungünstigen Versprecher im letzten Satz des Albums ein Kracher!

Martin van Drunen und seine Mannen liefern hier wieder feinsten Doom - Death Metal ab. Die Aufmachung der Cd im schönen Digibook ist auch sehr wertig und um diesen Preis...super!

Top

Love this record.

Ich kannte dise Band nicht und hab das Album nach Empfehlung gekauft. Ganz einfach geil!Death metal in seine beste Form. Nur zu empfehlen