Review: Bombarder “Speed Kill” & “Bez Milosti”

Bombarder “Speed Kill”
Bombarder “Bez Milosti”
Nuclear War Now! Productions

Here’s a couple of re-issues from 1989 and 1991, and they’re from a band who have literally been through the wars. Having originally formed in the old Yugoslavia, they have lost two band members to the Balkan Wars. Vocalist Nenad Kovačević is still fronting the band to this day, 31 years after they first formed, but now in Serbia and they’ve had a reasonably stable line-up with the rhythm section having now played together for the past 21 years.

But we’re going way back in time here, starting in 1989 with the bands debut, Speed Kill, which originally came out on tape and it’s amazing that it’s taken this long for it to actually get a vinyl release.

Musically, this leans very heavily on early Motörhead and sounds like a stripped back version of the Overkill / Bomber era of the band, but with added sounds of war. Another album I can compare it to is the 1979 debut album from Accept, which was a far cry from the potent duelling twin guitar band they became. So if you’re familiar with tracks like Sounds of War and to a lesser degree, Free Me Now (which was a pastiche of the Scorpions), then you know where Bombarder are coming from on this album.

And from its humble Metal roots, you can sense the band are trying to crank things up and move into Speed and Thrash Metal realms, but without getting the formula quite right. Although they weren’t far off.

Forwarding things onto 1991’s Bez Milosti, which Mr Google reliably informs me is “Without Mercy” in English and the first thing you notice is the improvement in the bands sound. Everything sounds fuller and the bass has improved immeasurably.

Unfortunately, the new smoother sound (which is still raw by todays standards) has removed the urgency and the vibrancy that dominated the first album. Also, they obviously began developing their own sound as the Motörhead and Accept comparisons have been eradicated completely.

I’m still blown away by the likes of Speed Metal Manijak, but I’m probably going to favour their debut over this one… but I suspect Bez Milosti will be a grower, as I am enjoying it more and more after each play.

The reason I still love reviewing after more years that I care to remember, is to be presented with gems like this. Back in 1989, I was listening to the likes of Annihilator – Alice in Hell, Nuclear Assault – Handle with Care and I’d also discovered Slayer the year before having caught them on their South of Heaven tour. Bombarder would have been a nice addition to my collection back then, just as they are today.

Ok, so it’s taken me 28 years to finally track down their debut, but it’s been worth the wait.

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