This past February, hard rock outfit Dust Bolt released its latest album, Sound & Fury through AFM Records. The band’s fifth album, it is the band’s first new album in roughly five years, the band having released its fourth album, Trapped in Chaos in 2019. The new 12-song record is a presentation that audiences will find intriguing at least in part through its featured musical arrangements. They will be discussed shortly. The album’s lyrical themes are of their own interest and will be examined a little later. The record’s production rounds out its most important elements, completing its presentation. It will also be examined later. Each item noted is important in its own way to the whole of the album’s presentation. The whole makes Sound & Fury a presentation about which audiences will be making plenty of noise.
Sound & Fury, the latest album from Dust Bolt, is a welcome addition to this year’s field of new hard rock albums from the up-and-coming hard rock act. The album’s appeal comes in part through its featured musical arrangements. The arrangements in question are easily comparable to works from the likes of Stone Sour and Metallica. More specifically, in speaking of Metallica, the comparison is more to more recent works from Metallica (the works featured in its latest album, 72 Seasons). Right off the top, audiences get a very Stone Sour style composition in ‘Leave Nothing Behind.’ That is evident both in the verses and choruses. The intensity of the guitar work and half-screamed vocals in the verses immediately lend to that comparison while the more melodic approach to the choruses echo that contrast used in much of Stone Sour’s work, too.
‘I Witness,’ which immediately follows, is a prime example of the comparison to Metallica’s works. That is evidenced through the thrash style guitar work that forms the song’s foundation. What is really interesting here is that just as much as front man Lenny Breuss manages to sound so much like Stone Sour/Slipknot front man Corey Taylor in the album’s opener, he manages somehow here to sound just as much like Metallica’s own famed front man, James Hetfield. That Metallica comparison continues on as the album progresses in the likes of ‘New Flame,’ ‘Burning Pieces,’ and ‘You Make Me Feel (Nothing)’ as well as other entries in the album’s second half.
The Stone Cour comparisons don’t stop early in the album, either. Influence of that band can be heard in the likes of ‘Feel The Storm’ and the album’s title track. Even with the arrangements showing all of the noted influence, the arrangements still manage to establish their own identity, which will go a long way toward making the album engaging and entertaining for audiences.
While the musical arrangements featured throughout Sound & Fury are obviously crucial to the success of the new album, they re just part of what makes the record worth hearing. The album’s lyrical themes make for their own interest. Going back to the album’s intro, ‘Leave Nothing Behind’ is proof of that importance. It can be easily inferred that this song, lyrically, addresses the all too familiar topic of mental health. This as Breuss sings in the song’s lead verse and chorus, “I can’t control what’s inside of me/Silent screams keep killing me/A smiling face/A pain so strong/Well arranged in one person/Do I keep fighting a devil I can’t see/Why does it still hurt/Every time I think/How things go and how things could be/Either way I guess in hell we’ll sleep/As long as I am there/Then I cannot be seen/A dancer becomes the veiled/Faceless and concealed.” That whole matter of the “hidden devil” and all the pain from thinking of how things are and could be comes across as a clear statement about dealing with those inner thoughts, that mental health issue. The seeming topic is discussed further in the song’s second verse, “Breaking the lines/I’m not afraid to fall/Who will pick me up/When I am broken on the ground/So I keep fighting devils I can’t see/Until we meet to set us free.” He asks here who will help when the moment comes that he has lost the battle, or so it seems. It is a relatively accessible wording that when combined with the apparent theme, will help the overall message resonate even more with listeners. ‘Burning Pieces,’ which comes a little later in the album’s run, is another similar matter, just delivered in a different fashion, told by someone laying in bed apparently, feeling quite bad as he admits no one is perfect but that he feels himself the devil as he deals with so many negative thoughts. That is pretty heavy to say the least but is still accessible in its own right.
On another note, ‘You Make Me Feel (Nothing)’ is seemingly about a broken relationship, another familiar topic in any genre. The theme is inferred as Breuss sings, “I gotta push it all over/Go back to the start/I gotta roll it all over/And look back to the past/I gotta do what I do/What’s it doing to you?/I wanna free my mind/And I wanna free my soul/The pollution of my thoughts/Have taken too control/I gotta go back to the start/And find out what to do.” He continues, “I’m afraid things won’t feel the same/And you’re running away/Back inside my mind/I find conflict/I gotta fix it/I’m afraid to open wounds and open caskets/I gotta admit/I’m afraid of hurting someone too drastic/I’m afraid/You make me feel/I gotta rebuild/Reconstruct what’s left to be repaired/I gotta build something to last inside my head/Got to remember who I am and who was you” This mindset continues on as Breuss notes about time healing some, not all, wounds. There is a lot of introspection here that in its wording, really points increasingly toward a relationship issue. To that end, the seeming theme is certain to connect with listeners just as much as any other themes in this album.
All things considered, the overall lyrical themes featured throughout the album are familiar and presented in a relatively accessible fashion. When the positive impact sure to happen as a result of this is considered alongside the impact of the album’s overall positive musical content, the whole therein makes the album that much more worth hearing.
Knowing how much the overall content featured in Sound & Fury does to make it worth hearing, there is still one more item to note. That item is the album’s production. The album’s title definitely holds up, as there is plenty of sound and fury throughout its body. To that end, plenty of time and effort had to be put into balancing the songs’ instrumentations and vocals to make sure no one performer overpowers the others at any point. Applause is in order for those charged with handling those duties. That as the intensity in each arrangement is so well-balanced. At no point do the vocals get washed out and at no point do any of the instrumentations gut muddied down in themselves, either. The impact is a record that is so heavy and intense throughout. When the album’s production and its positive impact is considered alongside the positives of its overall content, the whole therein makes this record a welcome addition to this year’s field of new hard rock and metal albums.
Sound & Fury, the latest album from rock outfit Dust Bolt, is a powerful presentation that plenty of rock and metal fans will appreciate. Its appeal comes in part through its musical arrangements. The arrangements largely find influence from the likes of Metallica and Stone Sour. At the same time they still manage to hold their own identity, making for plenty of appeal in itself. The lyrical themes that accompany the album’s musical arrangements are familiar territory and are presented in a relatively accessible fashion from one to the next. This makes for increasing appeal for the album. The record’s production puts the finishing touch to the album in that it handles the balance of vocals and musicians expertly in each song. The result is a fully immersive hard rock record when all things are considered. All things considered they make Sound & Fury a presentation about which many audiences will make plenty of noise.
Sound & Fury is available now through AFM Records. More information on Sound and Fury is available along with all of Dust Bolt’s latest news at:
Website: https://dustbolt.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dustbolt
