DUST BOLT – Sound & Fury
April 3, 2024, 3 weeks ago
(AFM)
An ironic title. Not sure if that was intentional or not, but Dust Bolt has decided thrash just isn’t enough these days and it’s commendable they want to expand their musical horizons. So there is a scope of sound on their fifth full-length Sound & Fury, but where is the fury? It is clear they are trying to gather a new audience, but I’m not sure it’s going to work well in their favor.
Every effective groove they develop is besmirched by a whiny, 2000s rock chorus. But that’s when those grooves are present and it’s few and far between and the inane lyrics don’t help matters much either. The rock, disco (“Disco Nnection”), hardcore, and metalcore influences are devoid of any “fury” unless you want to count Lenny’s aggro, tough guy vocals.
“I Witness” and “Love & Reality” have some solid moments and “New Flame” is the best song because it’s the shortest at 2 minutes. It manages to be the most thrash like of any of the 12 tracks.
The last three tracks are embarrassing, an aggro “ballad” with “You Make Me Feel (Nothing)”, whiny rocker “Feel The Storm” and the emo, poppy piano closer “Little Stone”.
Man, Sound & Fury is rough. Perfectly acceptable to branch out, but the songs have to be convincing and this doesn’t cut it. Best of luck boys, but this isn’t it.
