The Influential 1989 Death Metal Album Based On A Legendary RPG
The Influential 1989 Death Metal Album Based On A Legendary RPG
Aesthetics are a crucial component to any band's identity, and nobody wore their influences better than this legendary death metal group.
Throughout the course of music history, few bands embody their chosen aesthetics as completely as Bolt Thrower, a group that plucked its name and aesthetic from the fantasy role playing game Warhammer.
Born in the industrial heartlands of Birmingham in 1986, this band was more than just a musical endeavor. For Bolt Thrower, music was warfare, warfare was art, and art was a reflection of the universe’s inherent chaos.
Bolt Thrower was the perfect soundtrack to this universe. From the moment they formed, the band were on a mission to create a sonic equivalent to the epic battles depicted in the game.
Their 1989 album Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness was their most explicit ode to the Warhammer world, with Jon Sibbick album cover and song titles borrowed directly from the source materials.
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However, over a decade after the album’s release, a copyright dispute with Games Workshop led to the original cover art being replaced. Despite this legal kerfuffle, the fury of the album remains unchanged – a fitting tribute to a game about relentless warfare in a universe where hope is but a flicker in the endless night.
As a taster, here's "World Eaters" by Bolt Thrower.
5I'm amused that GW came after them a decade later - in the early days they knew their products where lifted from other sources and thrown in a blender with a good dash of British black humour, then at some point they clearly decided they needed to protect their IP.
If I'm not mistaken, White Dwarf even gave away a Bolt Thrower flexidisk on their cover.
4If I’m not mistaken, White Dwarf even gave away a Bolt Thrower flexidisk on their cover.
I was mistaken - it was WD 95 and it was Sabbat's "Blood for the Blood God".
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