Review by Greg on March 23, 2024.

Bulldozer were truly a unique band, not only in the Italian scene, but in the whole world. Try to write down who albums like IX and Neurodeliri sound alike to, and you'll likely give up the task after pointing out a couple dozen of names, all valid but none really close. They sounded like no one else, and left the thrash metal scene just before things were starting to go downhill, refusing to stain their refined musical style and giving an end to one of the most consistent discographies a thrash metal band could claim. Nevertheless, with the advent of Internet, the world started to discover old and nearly forgotten bands, whose music aged like fine wine, and Bulldozer was no stranger to this. Soon, folks from all over the world found out that even the land of traditional, popular songs once had a respectable number of distinctive extreme metal bands hidden beneath the surface. The names of Bulldozer, Schizo, Necrodeath suddenly became more meaningful to metalheads. This can explain the enthusiast reaction AC Wild faced when, in 2007, he joined Labÿrinth on stage in Japan and played some songs of his main band.

After having touched first-hand how their legacy still lived in fans all around the world, AC Wild and Andy Panigada accepted the challenge and resurrected Bulldozer in 2008; and despite not having been particularly busy in the recording venue in the last ten years – not as much as they did live, at least – they didn't forget to deliver us another lesson in violence (quoting Exodus) with their 5th full-length Unexpected Fate, 21 years after the morose masterwork that was Neurodeliri. With this recording, they dropped their trademark bastardization of thrash and black metal, opting for a more classic thrash metal approach, another stylistic change after their weird techno period in the '90s. A phase which, mind you, shouldn't really stain the band's reputation as you may think, since AC Wild himself admitted it was only a provocation, an ironic 'experiment' about those particular times which reached far unimaginable success and even influenced bands like Prodigy, according to him. It was simply the logical outcome of their provocative nature, brought to exasperation, and if it sounded ugly, it was meant to be like that. Maybe we should rather start to question the mental health of those who liked it and brought Bulldozer in tour in order to make them play that stuff on live shows... but it's not the right time, and neither the right place, to do it. Onwards to Unexpected Fate.

The intro catapults us in the typical atmosphere of a Bulldozer album, before Manu's hyper-speed drumming attacks you with surgical blast-beats and shows the new face of the band. Given his experience with the revival thrash band Death Mechanism, the new drummer's style is clearly the main difference between this and the previous full-lengths. The title-track ends and we have already witnessed Bulldozer's most violent song to date (sorry for you, middle songs of IX), yet the album goes on without losing too much steam and pace throughout the 9 'full' tracks. That's probably why, after two other beasts titled 'Aces of Blasphemy' and 'Salvation for Sale', few surprises await us in the immediate future, and the middle of the album slightly dips in quality. 'Use Your Brain''s sporadic appearances of a clean guitar mark a little throwback to Neurodeliri in terms of atmosphere, if nothing else, since the keyboards are sparse and low in the mix (i.e. the intro of 'Bastards'). 'Micro VIP' brings finally some tempo changes, but like in the previous songs the chorus could be shorter and even more effective. Probably the most interesting feature of these two last songs is that we can finally hear AC Wild inveighing against technology in the lyrics, and still he doesn't disappoint, with his sardonic lyrics transplanted in modern times.

'The Counter-Crusade' is the real deal here, however. The song already smells of the band's last two albums by its very beginning riff, the chorus is much in the vein of their swansong Neurodeliri, but the guest appearances are also more than remarkable thanks to Kiko Loureiro's acrobatic soloing and Billy Sheehan's unexpected (no pun intended) bass solo; and despite the fact it's placed in a break after the first chorus, very likely to interrupt the rapid flow of the song, it doesn't even feel forced, and that's saying much. The short, atmospheric instrumental 'The Prediction' builds up a climax into another classic of the band, the longer, solemn closer track. 'In the Name' begins with the right alternation of mid-tempo verses and anthemic choruses, before the solo by a solid Jennifer Batten leads into the furious second half, again like 'Willful Death' from their last album, and it's nearly every bit as good as that, though certainly not as emotional. In the 'Die to kill - In the name of the merciful' gang shouts you'll find yourself with a fist up in the air without knowing why, trust me. Don't overlook the innuendos to their songs scattered in the lyrics. This album really picked up itself in the last couple of songs.

The production has always been a delicate subject for Bulldozer albums, and this one makes no exception, with a few aspects which could be polished, for example the snare is modern sounding and a bit too high in the mix, if compared both to the rest of the drumkit and to the other instruments, but actually it's far from being an obstacle for your listening experience and you'll get used to it in a couple of songs, because for the rest it's hands down the best they ever had. The performance of the band is quite good, with AC Wild offering the usual solid work on both vocals (and he still delivers!) and bass (if you can hear it, that's it), but Panigada limiting himself to the riff department, as you may have guessed from the several guest lead guitarists. Still, well done. I would have liked more of his solo work, but I respect his choice.

All in all, the rating for this album, as unbiased as I might have been, isn't clearly as important as the concept of a Bulldozer comeback at full throttle. It might have seemed difficult to believe at first, but the Italian masters gave us another lesson on how to do it the right way. Chapeau.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Felix on November 19, 2020.

Myriads of bands have returned after a decade-long hiatus and rediscovered their metallic enthusiasm very authentically… It's amazing to see that losing the interest in metal for five or ten years is a symptom unknown to fans, but many musicians suffer from this disease. Generally speaking, we have three types of bands that come back. Firstly there are the ones that start their second career and release more albums than ever before (Necrodeath). Then we have those who would have been well advised to stay in their three-room cage instead of ruining their once glorious reputation with a powerless release (Iron Angel). Finally, between the two aforementioned poles, we all know formations that came back for exactly one album only in order to become afterwards a victim of their own lethargy again. Forbidden can be mentioned here and, you guessed it, Bulldozer.

Maybe due to their spaghetti-filled souls (copyright: TheBurningOfSodom), the Italian cult trio did not have enough hunger to take the scene by storm again, but I don’t think so. Unexpected Fate does not lack energy. Bulldozer performs aggressively with mostly swift songs that do not care about dubious twists and turns. Already the opener with its typical scream after some seconds paves the way into the better part of Bulldozer’s past. 21 years after Neurodeliri, the band has caught the spirit of its discography-highlight again. Speed, power and belligerence show up, until the end of the solo where the stuttering guitar offers unintentional humour.

Honestly speaking, there are more minor flaws to find. The background vocals of 'Aces of Blasphemy' are rather unnecessary and do not add value to this actually strong number. 'The Counter-Crusade', equipped with strict high-speed sections, strong melodies and a bass solo that sounds like the guy is playing his instrument under water, suffers from its under-average chorus. Anyway, Bulldozer shun away from any form of embarrassing elements. (Wish I could say this is a matter of course, but their multi-coloured discography tells me this would be a lie.) Instead the band surprises with a killer like 'Use Your Brain' (please note the wise title – did Ilona allow this kind of lyrics?). It connects gloomy sections with straight verses, a hardcore-affine chorus and a rumbling part that leads to the solos which are the best so far on Unexpected Fate. Unexpected fate? Unexpected hit!

The album is well produced. It sounds pretty modern, but not too clean or even overproduced. Bulldozer’s songs do not deny their roots, but the combo did not look for a cobwebbed sound and I admit that I like this approach. To be retro at any cost does not make much sense in my humble opinion. Okay, the occasionally occurring bubble gum guitar lines of the album’s nadir ('Micro VIP') have the charm of a visit to a dentist, but this is rather a problem of the backfired composition than of the mix.

All in all, Unexpected Fate sounds less eccentric than some of their early recordings and even though I tried to reinforce the Italian vibes by eating a pizza during the creation of this review, I cannot say that the album blows me away. Nevertheless, it was a nice sign of life of a band that has always been likeable and sometimes even competent, too. By the way, has the group forever gone to bed or does it just take again 21 years until Contini and Panigada release their next collection of compositions? Dudes, if you read this: I am ready for 2030.

Rating: 7.2 out of 10