I've been listening to Bathory a lot lately, but, for some reason it just doesn't feel like the right time to blog about them. Instead, I've tried to think of the closest thing to Bathory and what I've come up with is Bulldozer. Their frontman, AC Wild has always listed Venom and Motörhead as his primary influences, which is understandable from an instrumental standpoint, but the vocals have always reminded me of early Bathory. So here we are.When Bulldozer first broke out in the early 80s, Italy's Roman Catholics weren't so excited by the band's blasphemous imagery and lyrical content. Two of the original members' parents were so upset by the band that they forced their kids to quit. Shortly after, in 1984, Bulldozer released their magnum opus, The Day Of Wrath. It's a brash and abrasive record, locked somewhere between black and thrash metal, and in terms of brutality, it's unmatched by any of today's groups.My favorite track from the record is "Insurrection of the Living Damned." It's a little slower than anything else on here, which is why I'm mad that it was selected alongside Slayer, Celtic Frost, Metallica, and Destruction on the Metal Forces, Speed Kills compilation. Bulldozer was pissed as well, as they thought it was unrepresentative of the band and didn't fall in line with the pace of the the compilation.After an 18-year hiatus, Bulldozer reformed a couple of years ago. You can see their tour dates here.Listen: Bulldozer - "Insurrection of the Living Damned" [audio:http://viceland-assets-cdn.vice.com/music/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/03-insurrection-of-the-living-damned-1.mp3]PS: The hardest-working man in mixtape history, Fenriz, has done another mix for us here at Vice. This time he's gone head-to-head with Sindre Solem of Nekromantheon and Obliteration. Pretty exciting stuff, so stay tuned.†ROCKWELL†
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