Review by Greg on January 14, 2024.

I mean to give all my respect to every band which took part in developing and shaping the most awesome musical genre that mankind will ever know. For example, at the moment of writing this review, my mobile phone contains 2020 songs, and something like 4 by Judas Priest, however you will never find me denying their historical role or their consistent discography. That applies also for Venom. BUT I've never made a secret of the fact that I place Bulldozer, 'TOTAL Venom clones' as Music for Nations liked to claim, miles above Cronos' crew in my tastes. And it's not a mere nationalist sentiment, though I'm proud that a band of this caliber came out of my Italy.

First, let me state the obvious: fortunately, Bulldozer didn't develop as a complete Venom rip-off band. Nevertheless things were a bit different at the time of their debut The Day of Wrath, where they stood tiptoed upon the shoulders of the Newcastle giants, Motörhead, Hellhammer etc. trying to carve out a space for themselves. Italian soil wasn't exactly the most fertile for metal bands at that time, so the rest of the world saw Bulldozer as an annoying little brother, not to be taken too seriously. Well, shame for the rest of the world then, because it missed the rise of the first act of the unholy trinity of underground Italian metal, since in a matter of a few years Necrodeath and Schizo followed, upping the ante in terms of sheer insanity, even if the last couple of Bulldozer albums remained the most refined works for a while.

At the time 'The Exorcism' makes its way towards our ears, we are immediately catapulted into pure '80s metal with all its interest in shocking satanism, every bit as cheesy as you may expect, with demonic screams upon the Latin words of an exorcist. When the instruments finally kick in, one can easily notice the demo-quality production, with AC Wild spitting out the lyrics in a credible Cronos fashion, going in and out of the speakers as the instruments drown intermittently his voice. Here, Andy Panigada's riffwork is enough to make you think he was rejected from Venom themselves, but overall there's clearly more technicality in playing if compared to their British muses, found especially in Don Andras' drumming and in the extensive use of solos by Panigada, which leave Bulldozer a bit more rooted in thrash metal. All this comes out sufficiently evil and amateurish at the same time, and what aspect you think is the most prominent is probably a matter of tastes. Just think that AC Wild's voice won't be soaked again in as much reverb as here, and you'll have a demonic aura which will never be replicated on subsequent Bulldozer records.

The songs tend to flow quite consistently, with some highlights: 'The Great Deceiver' takes the spotlight with possibly the band's best performance on this record, after an intro that somehow reminds me of Bathory's majestic 'The Golden Walls of Heaven'. The post-chorus part is surely the added value of the song. 'Fallen Angel', one of their very first tracks, uses a single good, if standard, Mantas-leftover riff throughout the whole song, with a great chorus:

Living in freedom
I don't need your light
And scorning your love
I'm feeling all right
Don't care what I do
I'm living the eternal night!

'Mad Man' saves the best riff for the end, after Panigada's lead playing dominated the first half. Not to mention 'Whisky Time', notable for its extended drum intro and its irresistibly catchy chorus line. As dumb as it can be, you will find yourself yelling 'IT'S FUCKING WHISKY TIME!' in a nanosecond. As we approach the end of the album, we're awaited by something different, namely the slow, solemn 'Welcome Death' and the instrumental 'Endless Funeral'. Maybe not the best tracks of the album, but they compensate for the lack of variety that one may have started to complain about.

I can imagine the local stir The Day of Wrath caused when it was released. Sure, mainstream Italian radio didn't care and continued with its metal-free palimpsest, people kept labeling metalheads as loud boors and cavemen, and everyday life remained the same. But something was happening beneath the surface, and it was simply becoming too big to be ignored.

Rating: 8.3 out of 10

Review by Felix on January 14, 2024.

I remember the German metal press of the eighties. Right from the beginning, Bulldozer were mocked. One half of the scene was screaming "total Venom clowns". The other half blamed the band for being dilettantes. Very clever dudes wanted to know the difference between "Venom clowns" and "dilettantes", but this discussion doesn't matter in the scope of this review. Anyway, the crude spirit of the early Venom shimmered through every note of "The Day of Wrath". 156 clicks for Venom in the "Similar Artist" category are definitely no coincidence (but I must confess that I have no clue why the eloquent British thrashers of Sabbat are mentioned in this department as well). No doubt, the guys from Milan were heavily influenced by Cronos, Mantas and Abaddon, but debutants have the right to reveal their musical origin. Bulldozer's compatriots called Insane agree (and "Show no Mercy" at the same time).

The song material on "The Day of Wrath" was definitely better than the band's reputation. Admittedly, the boozy vocals can be classified as a run-of-the-mill effort and the riffing has its strengths and weaknesses. But at the end of the day, one finds some solidly configured pieces, sometimes enriched with a little quantum of absurdity. After the rather goofy than demonic intro, Bulldozer celebrate the stereotype and kick off the album with one of the fastest track of their repertoire. "Cut Throat" does not lack of speed, rudeness and criminality. The following "Insurrection of the Living Damned" - surprise, surprise - grabbed a place on the first issue of the semi-legendary "Speed Kills" compilations which also offered songs of less known formations like Slayer, Metallica or Exodus... The song has a more spooky touch. The voice is totally overloaded with reverb, but the riffing reveals a certain casualty. Without question, here were odd and self-mocking fellows at work.

The first two songs set the frame of the coordinate system of the band. The remaining tracks appear either rapidly running or pretty ponderous rumbling. Yet tracks such as "Fallen Angel" or "Mad Man" make clear that high velocity and more or less narcissistic guitar solos dominate the vinyl. Okay, some ideas do not work. The ending of "The Great Deceiver", for example, is much too long. Yet this debut originated from a country that did not possess a great metal scene. Back in the mid-eighties, Italians were almost exotic creatures in the (black) thrash metal community. Maybe this was a reason why Bulldozer longed for attention at any price and did not hesitate to present even pretty embarrassing lyrics ("Whisky Time"). However, the song, which is originally introduced by a drum solo, is not so bad at all.

Production-wise, the album does not reach for the stars. The sound leaves room for optimisation in terms of pressure, precision and transparency. Anyway, I assume that the band did not want to present its songs with a totally clean sound. The pretty simple songs - none of them is filled to the brim with meticulously elaborated riffs or surprising breaks, rather the opposite is the case - asked for an equally simple mix. Even the longest track, the slowly crawling "Welcome Death", does not hold a great variety of leads or melodies. Consequently, one is well advised to expect a pretty decent album, a document of its time - but do not think that it deserves cult status or something like this. Without being copycats, Bulldozer just had penned the alcoholic version of "Welcome to Hell" and they had done a solid job, no more, no less.

Rating: 6.6 out of 10