DUST BOLT
DUST BOLT “Sound And Fury”
By Iron Sheik
DUST BOLT return five years on here in 2024 with album number five, “Sound & Fury”. They are labeled as a thrash metal band hailing from Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria. Featuring members Nico R. on drums, Flo D. on guitar, Lenny B. on vocals, and Tom Liebing on bass, these guys make up a powerhouse of more than just thrash playing various other styles of heavy metal.
Thrash metal is not the right kind of a label for DUST BOLT, although momentarily here and there they venture into thrash. Maybe their earlier releases were thrash, which I am not familiar with as I just learned of these guys with this release, but “Sound & Fury” only has brief leanings into thrash. Their music shifts mainly back and forth between power metal and heavy metal, yet it has forays into groove metal and metalcore with aggressive vocals and clean vocals. Clean vocals dominate on the album. Power metal or heavy metal would be a more fitting and accurate label for their music.
While starting out in a thrash mode with first track “Leave Nothing Behind” there are passages in a power metal vein heard within while with second track “I Witness” the band carries on in a more all out thrash mode. By third track “I Am The One” the music slows down a hair into a catchy groove. “New Flame” returns to the thrash mode. Fifth track “Burning Pieces” is another track that has a hypnotic groove, yet it is not so much in line with being thrash. Title track Sound And Fury with the radio frequency tone in the background is another track that locks into a groove that is more metalcore in sound. That frequency tone does get annoying and messes with the hearing, especially during the solo. It is the kind of sound that could cause fury.
Moving into the back half of the album, “Love & Reality” starts out sounding like an INFECTIOUS GROOVES funky groove minus Sarsippius' banter, but it abandons the funk quickly for a heavier vibe of its own. “Bluedeep” is the intro piece to the next track “Disco Nnection”. There is a word, dubatschipikupokinou, repeated throughout. I have no idea if it has any meaning, or if it was just a scat kind of thing. It's cool none-the-less. Tenth track You Make Feel (Nothing) is a mainstream style metal song that starts out and ends with a piano piece. “Feel The Storm” is next coming in with more of a metalcore style. It is as if they have two singers with one that sings clean, and one that growls. “Little Stone” is the oddball track on the album. Another track with piano sounding keys, and it is also a ballad to close out the album. It ends with a rainstorm and ends abruptly. It is a risky undertaking closing an album this way, but it shows their diversity even moreso with a willingness to take risks.
“Sound & Fury” is one of those albums that doesn't fully fit in one category or under the label they are given, yet DUST BOLT has crafted an album across many genres of metal: thrash metal, heavy metal, metalcore, and a touch of funk. “Sound & Fury” is a good album, but it was not what I was prepared for given they are labeled as a thrash band. I was expecting an all out thrash assault not being seduced by the nuances of other styles of metal. After multiple listens the band and album have grown on me a lot. There is something I found as a drawback though which is the frequency tone in the title track. It was annoying and destroyed an otherwise good track. It is the only low point. A different thing is ending an album with a ballad as it can be risky and fail. PANTERA pulled it off with “Planet Caravan” on “Far Beyond Driven”, and so does DUST BOLT in this instance. Shifting Musical styles from track to track keeps one listening. They are a great band with great musical prowess, and you will hear the Sound and feel the Fury listening to DUST BOLT.