Atomwinter - Catacombs album review

Bolt Thrower are still one of death metal’s most emulated bands, there being something instantly recognisable and addictive about their heady and heavy-as-fuck simple grooves. Atomwinter have surely worn out a few copies of The IVth Crusade but to call them a clone wouldn’t be fair – we have Humiliation, Weak Aside, Psychopathic Terror and War Master taking care of that, thank you very much. What these Germans have learnt from Karl Willetts and co is the ability to convey the impression of being constantly run over by a tank. But they’re also HM-2 effect pedals collectors, have the kind of simple moshinducing breaks Asphyx would love to snag and are more obsessed with good ol’ horror movies than they are with war. Catacombs is hardly original but it is instantly catchy, and it delivers what you’d expect from an old-school death metal album in 2018.