Maybe you remember my review, from back in May, about the Split Roast album. A split album that contained five Death Metal bands from the UK. One of them were Colonel Blast.
I was highly impressed with the two songs of Colonel Blast back then, and hoped for the band to send me their debut album for review purposes. They didn’t, so I bought it. Usually if the band doesn’t care to send me promos for a review, I just don’t give a crap about them anymore. If they don’t want the promotion from our site, I won’t force it upon them. It’s their loss. But I found myself going back to listen to the Split Roast, just to listen to Colonel Blast, multiple times. So I decided to just buy the album and then write about it. And that’s where we are today.
If you have listened to the Split Roast yourself, keep in mind that Colonel Blast feature a different line-up on their debut album. Their original vocalist, Matt Bolton, left the band after the release of their first album to move to New York. Make the jump to read my review of Matt Bolton’s only recorded work with Colonel Blast: For The Greater Good.
Colonel Blast – For The Greater Good
1. Ethical Betrayal – 4:08
2. Management Coat Competition – 2:48
3. Savour The Flavour – 3:36
4. For the Greater Good Pt.1 (The Best Intentions) – 3:33
5. For the Greater Good Pt.2 (In The Cold Light Of Day) – 4:40
6. The Beacon – 2:56
7. Frozen In Apathy – 3:25
8. Blofeld Never Died – 5:19
Usually if you look at the artwork for an album, it should give you an idea of what awaits you musically. At first I wasn’t sure if the above artwork achieves that, but the more you listen to For The Greater Good, the more the artwork makes sense. But what kind of music do Colonel Blast play? I can tell you that much: They play Death Metal with huge hints to Black Metal, may I even say Suicidal Blast Metal? I can’t deny that they sound a bit similar to Shining and Woods Of Ypres (two Suicidal Black Metal I’ve written about on this site). Less hopeless but more disgusted at what this world turned into.
The first song of the album, ‘Ethical Betrayal,’ gives you a nice introduction into Colonel Blast’s sound. It starts off very melodic and melancholic, almost in the vein of Cult Of Luna, before it unleashes its rage. The vocals are one of the many highlights on this album. You can hear that Matt Bolton has had enough. His vocals range from high-pitched, Black Metalish screams to death growls. This, in itself, isn’t atypical but Bolton puts so much emotion into his screams and growls, that he successfully separates Colonel Blast from other similar Death Metal bands. Musically, the band plays an interesting mixture of Progressive (at times Technical) Death Metal and Black Metal. There is no transition from Death Metal to Black Metal. The band simply plays a hybrid of both styles, becoming an entirely different style without moving away too much from either genre.
The two part title track ‘For The Greater Good,’ with ‘The Best Intentions’ and ‘In The Cold Light Of Day’ respectively, showcases all the different sides of this band. Part 1 comes along very heavy with some technical parts, that remind me of a certain German Brutal Death Metal band; Jack Slater. Part 2 on the other hand sounds very melancholic and cathartic. It again reminds me of Cult Of Luna. While the two parts sound extremely different from each other, they do work together as a whole. There’s a certain underlying leitmotif that runs through the whole album, especially within these two songs.
My personal favorite comes as the last song of this album, ‘Blofeld Never Died.’ When you listen to the album from start to finish, you feel like this song is the perfect epilog. It perfectly sums up the emotions and several styles this record has to offer. There is so much power in this song alone, it’s incredible. After the song is over, you’re left wanting more, so you just start listening to For The Greater Good again. That’s what a good album, a 5-star album, does to you.
