Bonecrusher - Saints & Heroes

Knock Out Records

 

I basically got introduced to Bonecrusher while flipping through an issue of Aardschok, a Dutch metal / hardrock magazine I frequently bought when I was a teenager. Always reading the interviews and reviews of the late Onno Cro-Mag first, I just knew I had to get the “Working For Nothing” CD, no matter what! A filthy expensive import later (something I get mocked about when the subject comes up by my buddy Jelle, who got it for a third of what I paid for it, until this day), it literally blew me the fuck away! I’ll never forget the impact that record had on me and it well earned its overpriced tag back in the past 17 years!

 

Now flash forward to 2015 and Bonecrusher is still going at it! Loyal to German cult-label Knock Out Records, “Saints & Heroes” is the third full-length the band has released in the past five years for zee Germans. And I have to admit, after the somewhat disappointing “The Good Life” EP and the “Tomorrow Is Too Late” LP, I kind of lost sight on these guys (sorry!), but I can definitely confirm this Californian terror corps regained my attention with a quick warm-up the past months through their two previous albums, “We Are The Working Class” and “Blvd. Of Broken Dreams”, and their brand new slab of wax “Saints & Heroes”.

 

Because this record is dropping bombs! The power of the hard hitting, yet still very melodic sound, the anger and the passion in Raybo’s vocals, the massive sing-alongs, the heavy bass driven anthems… Bonecrusher still has it all! From streetpunk powerhouses as “Remember”, “All For One”, “Freedom”, “Saints And Heroes”, “Hold Your Head Up High”, “Born To Lose”, “Class War”, “Whiskey Nation” and “Gotta Revolution” to the ‘Off With Their Heads on steroids’-tracks “Spare Me Your Misery”, “We Got Tonight” and “Emmanuel (God Is With Us)”, every song grabs you by the throat, not planning on letting go anytime soon!

 

Therefor “Saints & Heroes” proves to me that Bonecrusher are still the uncrowned champions of heavy-weight streetpunk with its 14 brutal tracks! The CD that came with my LP hasn’t left my stereo for days, although this shows I am lazy, it should also tell you that Bonecrusher’s seventh studio album is an absolute killer record!