Review by Carl on January 2, 2026.

In short: if you like Bolt Thrower, you're gonna like Chaosbringer as well.

For those who like it more elaborate: this is a very sturdy style of old school death metal, very much in the vein of what Bolt Thrower had on offer on albums such as "Warmaster", "For Victory" and "Those Once Loyal", and while you're at it, chuck in some "Realm Of Chaos" too. And everything else Bolt Thrower did between those albums mentioned. Chaosbringer veer dangerously close to straight-up plagiarism here, employing all the tricks you no doubt know from those well-known and revered English kings and queens of death metal. From the ceremoniously striding riffs underpinned by rolling double kick drums to the gruff growling vocals employed by vocalist Eugene, you have heard this before if you've ever heard a Bolt Thrower album. There's even some very old-school uptempo pummeling on offer, just like Bolt Thrower did early on in their career. Now, I will clarify that this sort of worship/plagiarism is no crime in my book. I'm also big into Warhammer (GER) and Massacred, so deriding Chaosbringer for a lack of originality would be very hypocritical of me. Even more, when well-crafted, I can enjoy this type of stuff a lot, and it has to be said that Chaosbringer sure have done their homework, as well as putting in the effort of making it all click in a well-decent manner. The execution is on point and tight, although the vocals sometimes do go down a monotonous road a bit too much, and these guys know what they are about. They stick firmly to their formula (well, Bolt Thrower's, actually), and they do it without becoming a parody, which also counts for something in my book.

Even the production seems to hint at the sound of the albums mentioned above, but doesn't quite cut it completely. It sounds well enough, with some good balance to the mix, but it falls a bit short here. Foremost, because the guitars are just that bit too soft mixed into the total picture, thus somewhat neutering the huge sound Chaosbringer was probably aiming for here. You know, that massive production that Bolt Thrower had on albums like ... well, you know...

You don't need me to explain any further that this is not an original album. But while it is easy to make fun of a band like Chaosbringer, I don't see it that way. If I look at this album from a personal view, I see a solid old school death metal album, one that is pretty well crafted and executed, and for that, I have respect. And if someone brings up that it is not original, which it surely isn't, one can always make the point that it at least somewhat fills that unfortunate void that Bolt Thrower left when they ceased to exist.

See. There's a silver lining to everything.

Rating: 7 out of 10