Hail of Bullets

I'm walking down the road one day, this third release from respected Netherlands death dealers Hail of Bullets cranked on the headphones, and suddenly I see a car about to hit me from behind. In the half-second I have left, I think to myself, completely seriously, "I'm listening to Hail of Bullets; I'm ready to die." While death passed me by that day, it's more than a bit disconcerting that my mind didn't think of other things. However, the point remains: this group, fronted by the legendary Martin van Drunen (truly one of the best voices in death — best hair, too), rules. You can discuss if this is slower or faster than their last offering, but I'm barely buying it: these guys play slow, play fast and spend much of their time in the mid-range doing death metal up right: chunky, old school, barbaric and with feeling. Closer "Death of a Field Marshal" does the slow and epic thing just fine, but much of the disc gallops along old-school, bringing to mind Grave, Entombed, Asphyx — the bands that just knew how to do it right, like Hail of Bullets. Most modern death metal bands could learn a thing or two from these guys.