Review by UnhinderedbyTalent for Bestial Warlust - Blood & Valour (1995)

Plummeting straight out of the ugly tree and hitting every branch on the way down, Bestial Warlust do not fuck around for one second of Blood & Valour.  Despite their obvious ability to tear your face off, they do not rely on this capability alone to get their message across however.  Time is taken to build some (loose) sense of structure on some tracks and yes, I grant you, these soon dissolve into furious blackened-death metal (or War Metal for some purists) that have little intention other than to be as loud and obnoxious as possible.  The point is that even when they are not in full-tilt slaughter-mode Bestial Warlust can still scare the shit out of you.

Beyond just ticking boxes in the extreme world of metal, the Aussie three-piece create genuine torque in their music.  Yes the horse-power on how fast they can go is impressive enough but the grunt that sits behind that speed is equally noteworthy.  I would not say we ever reach warp-speed here and despite the production values the band deliver a clearly audible assault that carries rhythm the majority of the way.  In a way it is an album that you only need occasional blasts of as it absolutely delivers with every play making it one of the most satisfying listens I could wish for.

 In terms of criticism, the instrumental track slapped bang in the middle of the album just feels showy and unnecessary.  Without vocals, this level of extremity has its limits guys!  I would have left that track out and just kept on with the more complete feel to the tracks.  The album does feel a little disrupted by the instrumental track unfortunately, almost like it has to start again. I can cope with ugly but inconsistency is harder to swallow.