For the Fallen, the 2017 post Bolt Thrower debut of Memoriam, featuring long time Bolt Thrower members Karl Willets and Andrew Whale (joined by current and former Benediction dudes Frank Healy and Scott Fairfax) was a solid homage to fallen Bolt Thrower comrade Martin “Kiddie” Kearns (RIP), and was as expected, a Bolt thrower/Benediction sounding UK death metal album. However, the follow up, The Silent Vigil, released almost one year to the day later, seemed rushed in both the song writing and production department, so much, so it barely registered in the 2018 releases and I didn’t review it.
So with roughly the same turnaround for album number 3, I had concerns, but luckily Requiem for Mankind, returns to the stout sturdy sounds of the debut and arguably the most Bolt Thrower sounding material of the band’s short catalog. So much so, if one were to play the album blindly, you’d be excused for thinking the new reformed Bolt Thrower album was pretty solid.
Starting with “Shell Shock” which truly could be a lost Bolt Thrower song, the album trundles through 10 tracks of beefy, simply death metal about war and loss. The rumbling, somber Bolt Thrower strains and hues are tangible as heard in “Undefeated” (a perfect MMA, boxing/wrestling walk on song if there ever was) , “Refuse to be Led”, “Requiem For Mankind”, “Fixed Bayonets” (another track that could be from the lost Bolt Thrower archives), and the Benediction bits (i.e “Austerity Kills”, “In the Midst of Desolation”, The Veteran”) mix in seamlessly. Closer “Interment” is a moody instrumental that jolts you back to why this project was formed in the first place and ends the album on a somber note.
As with debut Willets , isn’t using a full on death metal bellow any more, but he sounds a little more gruff than he did on the last 2 albums and instantly recognizable. There’s hardly any blast beats, virtually no solos, nothing that really makes it a special album by any means, except that unmistakable Bolt Thrower nostalgia, which to many including my self is plenty enough.
