Band:	Dust Bolt
Album:	Awake The Riot
Style:	Thrash metal
Release date:	May 2014

01. Living Hell
02. Soul Erazor
03. Beneath The Earth
04. You Lost Sight
05. Agent Thrash
06. Living A Lie
07. Awake The Riot - The Final War
08. Eternal Waste
09. Drowned In Blind Faith
10. Worlds Built To Deceive
11. The Monotonous - Distant Scream
12. Future Shock [Evildead cover]

Dust Bolt are a relatively new German thrash band looking to further chisel a place into the metal landscape with their new album Awake The Riot. As a part of the "revivalist" thrash scene, as usual, originality will be a concern for some. I'll go ahead and say right now these guys aren't the ones to go outside the box of what you would be expected from the genre. But within that proverbial box, Awake The Riot is a very enjoyable piece of work.

Admittedly, that much of the review will probably be enough for some., but for those who aren't overly concerned with originality, this album should be a fun ride. Basically, Dust Bolt play a style of thrash that belongs to the same school as bands like Havok and Hexen. The foundation for the album is tight, fast riffage, with a bit of a melodic flavor to it at times. The drums pound out all the textbook beats to bang your head along to. Every now and then you get the wild solos that have you reaching for the air guitar. Nothing new.

What I found impressive though, was simply the level of detail. The fact that Dust Bolt put so much effort into spicing up so many riffs (even when the pace picks up) really helped keep me engaged listening to it. It's clear from listening to Awake The Riot these guys are starting to get comfortable and experienced with their craft, and are making good use of their skills.

On to the negatives, which luckily are only minor problems to me. The first concerning the production - while the mixing was solid as a whole, I found the guitar tone was missing something. It isn't bad, but might have benefitted from a little more crunch. The album was also a bit too long for my taste, coming in at just under an hour. It's not a marathon of, say Exodus's Exhibit B: The Human Condition proportions, but nevertheless, it has been proven many times that a shorter slab of thrash can be very effective. Reign In Blood, anyone? Still, there are no really bad songs on this album, and it lends itself well to short bursts of listening.

I should probably reiterate that Awake The Riot is not pushing any boundaries or blazing any new trails. But for me, if you're going to pump out an album this well done and simply fun to listen to, that doesn't matter a whole lot. If you're looking to get your thrash on, get your hands on Dust Bolt's latest and let the dust get bolted into your soul? Or something.