''Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness'' is the second album by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

band

Bolt Thrower Bolt Thrower were an English death metal band from Coventry. They formed in 1986 and released their first album with Vinyl Solution in 1988. The band then shifted to a new record label, Earache Records, soon becoming one of the best selling b ...

. It was recorded at Loco studios in April 1989 and engineered by Tim Lewis. It was mixed at Slaughterhouse Studios in July 1989 and engineered by

Colin Richardson Colin Richardson is a British record producer, mixer and recording engineer. He has worked on over 100 albums and is most frequently associated with heavy metal and its subgenres. Career Some of the bands he has worked for include: * 3 In ...

. It is produced by Bolt Thrower and

Digby Pearson Digby Pearson (born 1962), also known as "Dig", is an English musician, producer and businessman. He is the founder of independent record label Earache Records. Biography Born and raised in Nottingham, he was introduced to extreme music whilst ...

. The cover artwork was produced by

Games Workshop Games Workshop Group (often abbreviated as GW) is a British manufacturer of miniature wargames, based in Nottingham, England. Its best-known products are ''Warhammer Age of Sigmar'' and ''Warhammer 40,000''. Founded in 1975 by John Peake (gam ...

. The whole album is closely tied to

's ''

Warhammer 40,000 ''Warhammer 40,000'' is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world, and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987, ...

'' game background and '' Realm of Chaos: Slaves to Darkness'' was the title of a gaming book by Games Workshop released in 1988. The album was released on

Earache Records Earache Records is a British independent record label, music publisher and management company founded by Digby Pearson in 1985, based in Nottingham, England, with offices in London and New York. The label helped to pioneer extreme metal by rel ...

: Mosh 13 in 1989. In 2005 a re-issue was released by Earache, featuring new artwork. The band advises not to buy the re-issue, as they have not been involved and will not get royalties. ''Realm of Chaos'' displays a progression from its previous output in speed and riffage. There is a strong focus on

blast beat A blast beat is a type of drum beat that originated in hardcore punk and grindcore, and is often associated with certain styles of extreme metal, namely black metal and death metal,Adam MacGregor, ''PCP Torpedo'' by Agoraphobic Nosebleed rev ...

s in many of the songs, with chaotic guitar soloing. Nevertheless, the signature heavy riffing is also apparent.

Track listing

*All songs written by Bolt Thrower.

Personnel

;Bolt Thrower *

Karl Willetts Karl Willetts (born 21 September 1966) is an English death metal vocalist, best known as the lead singer of Bolt Thrower and Memoriam. Biography Willetts joined the British death metal band Bolt Thrower in 1988. Before that, he drove the ...

–

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* Gavin Ward –

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s *

Barry Thomson Barry "Baz" Thomson is an English people, English musician, best known for being the lead and rhythm guitarist for death metal band Bolt Thrower until their disbandment in 2016. He co-founded the band in 1986, and was also the main songwriter o ...

–

s *

Andrew Whale Bolt Thrower were an English death metal band from Coventry. They formed in 1986 and released their first album with Vinyl Solution in 1988. The band then shifted to a new record label, Earache Records, soon becoming one of the best selling b ...

–

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Jo Bench Jo, jo, JO, or J.O. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Jo'' (film), a 1972 French comedy * ''Jo'' (TV series), a French TV series *"Jo", a song by Goldfrapp from ''Tales of Us'' *"Jo", a song by Mr. Oizo from ''Lambs Anger'' * Jo a fictio ...

–

Bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

;Production *

- Production *

- Mix *

John Blanche John Blanche is a British fantasy and science fiction illustrator and modeler who worked on Games Workshop's ''White Dwarf'' magazine, ''Warhammer Fantasy Battle'', ''Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay'' and ''Warhammer 40,000'' games and was the art ...

- Art direction *

Dave Lund Dave may refer to: Film, television, and theater * ''Dave'' (film), a 1993 film starring Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver * ''Dave'' (musical), a 2018 stage musical adaptation of the film * Dave (TV channel), a digital television channel in the ...

- Graphic Design *

John Sibbick John Sibbick is a British freelance illustrator and paleoartist best known for his fantasy art and reconstructions of prehistoric life in several media. Sibbick studied Graphics and Illustration at Guildford School of Art (now University for ...

- Front cover artwork * Addy Jones - Photography

References

{{Authority control 1989 albums Bolt Thrower albums Earache Records albums Warhammer 40,000