There is absolutely nothing new to report from the house of BOLT THROWER, which is just fine! Instead of starting experiments or other monkey-business after their longer rest the English guys go their well-tried path and present us with that kind of stuff which they know best: mid-speed and exceedingly powerful Death metal that crushes everything in its way with lots of double bass drums and great melody lines.
The previously announced improvements respecting sound, songwriting etc. however, didn't reveal themselves to me. Of course, in this respect you might say that HVP sounds the same as the previous BOLT THROWER albums. They hit the gas a little more than on Mercenary but hook lines, structures and vocals remain the same as always. The lyrics are still faithful to the legends of the battlefields and the sleeve design could adorn the latest figure box from the Games Workshop just as well.
But BOLT THROWER wouldn't be BOLT THROWERif they couldn't preserve their musical trade marks with tremendous energy and powerful intensity on CD. Even the new vocalist makes neither a good nor a bad impression, but just merges with the whole picture as if it had belonged there all along. You'll look in vain for any surprises, but this doesn't really matter, because it's fun to listen and your head will start to move automatically.
After the second riff of the opener Contact – Wait Out you already know for sure, that only one band on this planet is capable of writing this song. It's just the same with the following tracks, although the three title tracks (Honour, Valour, Pride) and the mighty 7th Offensive do stand out a little bit. The level is still constantly high, and when someone can still produce such a strong album despite a lack of new ideas (which nobody really wanted or demanded), 8 points are by no means too much.