Available: NOW
Label: Nuclear Blast Records
Official Websites:
When I saw that a band called Bullet was in my review pool and noticed the album cover looked very…80’s, I thought perhaps this was a band from the early 80’s making a comeback. So, being unfamiliar with the band Bullet I Youtubed them. What I got was indeed a band from the 80’s called Bullet that was from Germany. I thought this sounds pretty rocking. I then listened to ‘Storm of Blades’ and for a moment I thought this Bullet was the same band I found on Youtube because they sounded somewhat similar. However, I was very wrong about this. Turns out the Bullet I will be reviewing is a relatively new band based out of Sweden. I guess Bullet must be a popular name for bands or something. Regardless, the good news is I found two bands, with the same name from different decades that sound pretty rocking. So let’s bite this Bullet!
As I mentioned the album cover for ‘Storm of Blades’ is VERY retro to the old early 80’s metal bands. I am actually reminded of the Running Wild cover to their album ‘Gates to Purgatory’. Also this artwork is indicative of the band’s sound as Bullet plays some very energetic, fun catchy hard rock/traditional metal. The music here is very blue collar and has a workman like attitude about it. It is in your face.
Bullet’s sound has definite shades of AC/DC with all the precision old German metal rock bands (like Accept), while vocalist Hell Hofer has some kind of odd shrieking/worbling style to his voice that really does off a unique sound to the band. I almost want to say he is some twisted form of Blackie Lawless and Rob Halford from the ‘Screaming for Vengeance’ era. The song ‘Riding High’ actually reminds me of the Priest song ‘Riding on the Wind’.
Bullet’s ‘Storm of Blades’ is an excellent steam rolling hard rock/metal album. It is fun from start to finish with a vocalist who helps the band have a unique sound. With songs like ‘Riding High’, ‘Crossfire’, ‘Tornado’ and a host of others, this album is a gem and should make its way into your collection.
Rating: 4.5/5
