Register Forgot login?

© 2002-2024
Encyclopaedia Metallum

Privacy Policy

Bulldozer > IX > Reviews
Bulldozer - IX

Yum yum with Ilona - 57%

Felix 1666, October 29th, 2020
Written based on this version: 1999, CD, Sound Cave (Reissue)

Bulldozer’s third album, confusingly titled “IX”, was released in 1987, one year after “The Final Separation” and one year before “Neurodeliri”. Today we are happy that some bands need less than five years for a new full-length, but that’s another (dissatisfying) story. Yet in all honesty, the stories that Bulldozer tell on “IX” are not very appetizing as well. To glorify the possibility of putting a finger deeply in the ass of a porno slut or to praise the safer sex alternative called masturbation (“you won’t get a.i.d.s.”) imply a sexual frustration of gigantic dimensions. Of course, masturbation is sex with a person I really love, but this fact alone does not justify such totally idiotic lyrics. Not to mention “Rob ‘Klister’”. Does anybody think that this kind of poetry is entertaining?

Let’s turn quickly to the music itself. Well, first of all, I am sorry to inform you that the production is more or less on a par with the lyrics. It has the power of a dick after two orgasms within the last 30 minutes. (I beg your pardon. Bulldozer’s lyrics have confused me.) Maybe due to a small budget, the guitars sound pretty thin and the snare drum has no impact as well. Thus, the voice of AC Wild is the most characteristic element and this dude cannot hide his biggest inspiration from time to time. Especially at the beginning of “The Derby” he sounds like his venomous idol Cronos. By the way, this is another song with very strange lines that combine “Holocaust” with “Hooligans”. Does this form of lyricism make sense? Of course, not at all – but I wanted to write about the music.

“IX” offers ix pieces, but don’t expect any killer among them. The opening title track is fast and pretty expressionless, “The Derby” seems to be written within five minutes in view of its simple football staccato and even the acceptable riffing of “Desert!” has to face the enemy within when it comes to the moronic guitar line that appears for the first time after 86 seconds. “Ilona the Very Best” has more than a modicum of momentum, but I guess this was the initial impulse that started the evolution which ended in “Yum Yum” and so I cannot enjoy the track whole-heartedly. Generally speaking, Bulldozer present another portion of their speed/thrash cocktail, while the sporadic horror elements of the debut do not re-occur. The band does not lack energy and filth, but it is also true that their will to make noise was always bigger than their compositional skills. Songs like “Heaven’s Jail” have a solid riff foundation, but the Italians fail to make a great track out of it and the stupid fade-out at the end of song illustrates the lack of convincing ideas – and you will find more fade-outs here.

The German metal media of the eighties hated Bulldozer and this alone was reason enough for me to like the trio. But juvenile opposition aside, I cannot deny that the evolution of the band between 1985 and 1987 was fairly questionable. “IX” is an under-average output of dirty metal, not totally bad, but with a significant lack of coherent song structures and creative substance. The playtime of less than 32 minutes says a lot in this respect. Maybe the dudes still had a finger or another part of the body in a natural orifice of a woman as they began to write this album. This would explain a lot.

Italy's Finest, Part III: Consecration - 89%

TheBurningOfSodom, August 7th, 2018

Ah, the times when the energy of passion could fuel every means of transport. After the disappointing sales of The Final Separation, a label change and a local interest in metal which struggled to take off, Bulldozer took the bare minimum of time to rearrange their weapons and struck again with full force. Another year, another album: 1987 saw the release of IX, and things would never be the same.

IX is the logical conclusion of the maturational process carried through Bulldozer's first two albums: the sound has become almost pure thrash metal with an evil twist, and the typical Venom/Motörhead sound is by now largely abandoned. The title is still in typical Bulldozer fashion: quoting AC Wild, it was a reference to the ninth circle of Dante's Inferno, "the circle of treachery, where Lucifer, the rebel angel, stands together with Judas. The betrayers of the faith". However, such a complete evolution in style probably couldn't have been possible without the hiring of a new drummer. "Don" Andras left with a great performance on The Final Separation, but his substitute, Roberto Cabrini aka Rob "Klister", turned out to be the crucial factor for the overall IX sound: less fill-happy, but faster, and straight to the point.

This time, indeed, the title-track placed at the beginning wastes no time to sharpen the knives and let the listener know that Bulldozer are back, angrier, faster and more violent than ever. AC Wild's deranged voice is still fully recognizable, and his hatred towards religion fuels every second of this incredible opener, before Panigada decides it's time to slay his guitar for the first time in a long series and deliver a remarkable solo. The amount of sheer energy of this track alone can only be matched by how little one could expect Bulldozer to sound like this. Sure, someone still misses their brand of Venom-meets-Motörhead blackened speed metal which had been almost perfected on The Final Separation and now forsaken; but, as I said before, I do believe THIS is the music AC Wild intended to make, and the choice of the little experienced (in metal) label Discomagic helped. Also the production, though raw, is finally decent - take this, Roadrunner!

After the completely mid-paced 'Desert!', owned by a superb Panigada, the album begins to suffer a bit from the Reign in Blood syndrome, and tracks become shorter and faster as time goes. Nothing shocking considering that said album came to life an year earlier. However the choruses are often slower and can remain in your head after a while. So, as long as the fillers are good, nothing to worry about. For example, 'Rob "Klister"' is another song Bulldozer dedicated to their drummer, but this time it's a musically serious affair just like its neighbors, and it's rather one of the most intense thrashers they have ever written. Also, 'No-Way' starts essentially with a rehash of 'Rob "Klister"''s riff, and we can expect another speed-fest which wipes out mercilessly the needed mid-tempo break of 'The Derby', dedicated to soccer rivalry in their Milan. Yes, riffs are delicious, lethal and original like never before, yet it's thanks to songs like 'Desert!' and 'The Derby' that the members can showcase their abilities in a different way, breaking the constant barrage of high-speed attacks. Also the closer 'The Vision Never Fades' confirms our suspects that there are really no bad songs on here. IX really showed Bulldozer at their most inspired moment so far, no matter the tempo.

Oh, make sure you don't forget one of the band's hymns, the ode to pornstar and politician Ilona Staller 'Ilona the Very Best', because... well, it will be simply unforgettable from the first time you hear it. So, truth be told, one simply cannot go wrong with this album, as its running time of 31 minutes invites you to listen to the entire thing in one sit, and there are no songs longer than 5 minutes like before. It's a truly intense experience, maybe it's not a perfect album (but then, which one is?), but it's one of the best I've ever heard. The moment Bulldozer finally found their consecration... they would however strike only one more effort before putting a halt to their career. A sad ending, but the last demonstration that the Italian crew couldn't be further from being a one-album wonder...

You can also find this review on MetalBite.com.

Underrated classic - 95%

Superreallycool, October 8th, 2014
Written based on this version: 2001, 12" vinyl, Warlord Records (Picture disc, Limited edition)

Bulldozer, an Italian black/thrash metal band, has been called almost unanimously Italy's response to Venom. I'd like to put that comparison to rest, because to me, Bulldozer blows the socks off of Venom. Now, no offense to Venom, I know how important they were, and that I am in a minority of people who don't just worship Venom, but I really do believe Bulldozer has higher quality material. Bulldozer does what most Venom worshipers did, but on this release they defiantly have more of an identity, and I will expand upon how they have this identity later.

Bulldozer had many great albums, but none that reach the heights to IX. Bulldozer albums prior to IX have suffered from bad production. I know raw production adds to the black metal aesthetic but when the guitars volume changes when it isn't supposed to, then it becomes an issue. The mix here is balanced and the production is still very raw. This allows the instruments to roar, but still be at the correct volumes, an Issue their previous albums had.

IX's sound isn't quite black metal, but it's defiantly not thrash. It's somewhere in between. It is enough of both to appeal to thrashers and black metal fans alike, which as a fan of both I quite enjoy. The songs are mostly short, none go over 5 minutes, and most are between 2-4 minutes long. On a black metal album, this is essential, because rarely does black metal have enough diversity in its songs to stay interesting for much longer, how ever I do feel that some songs could have been "explored" deeper, and had more gotten out of them. Still, the results are fine anyway, so no real complaint.

The obvious highlights are "Desert!" and "Ilona the Very Best". These songs are fairly complex, have great riffs, and awesome guitar solos, provided by Andy Panigada. These solos are fairly long by black metal solo standards, but I wouldn't have it any other way, as they feel quite powerful and epic and really complete the songs. It is very rare for guitar solos to be so important in a black metal song, this is something different that this album does. That with the "not metal" instruments often used give this album a unique sound.

This is an album any thrash fan, black metal fan, or even speed metal fan, should own. They're other albums don't disappoint either. If you're just getting into thrash, black, or speed though, this album probably isn't for you, as it is fairly heavy. But if you're already into these sub-genres, this is a great album, and a must have for your collection.

Great black/speed metal. - 87%

DYNAROUGE, January 2nd, 2009

Bulldozer – IX

Hailing from Italy, Bulldozer play a blend of black metal and speed metal. Most fans of the band would agree that IX is the high point of their musical career, and with good reason.

Albums prior to IX, such as The Day Of Wrath, suffer from mediocre production – there are parts in TDOW where the vocals are barely intelligible, and the volume of various instruments is inconsistent and all over the map throughout the duration of the album. While I appreciate that the raw production is part of what makes Bulldozer’s music ‘blackened’, it becomes frustrating when the guitar is constantly going from a roar to a whisper. IX doesn’t really suffer from this problem – the levels of all the instruments are the same from song to song, and the production is still raw enough to achieve a significant black metal feel to their music.

The music itself is much more thrash-sounding than previous efforts, but still manages to retain some black metal influences. A.C. Wild’s voice is evil and raspy as all hell, which makes for some great blackened vocals. There’s also a lot of awesome shout-a-long parts, like in ‘The Derby’, when A.C. chants “Hatred! Hatred! Hatred!” over and over again. There are lots of great guitar solos throughout the album, the most notable one being in the song ‘Desert!’. The middle of the album is probably the weakest point of IX – ‘Misogynists’, ‘Rob '”Klister”’ and even ‘Heaven’s Jail’ (to a lesser extent than the first two mentioned) are all pretty forgettable. This isn’t to say that they’re badly written, but compared to the first few songs on the album, they come across as being filler. However, in the last part of the album (in particular ‘The Derby’) the band’s true talent as musicians and songwriters shines through once again. ‘No-Way’ and ‘The Vision Never Fades’ are another great two energy filled tracks, but have a much more bleak feel to them than previous songs on IX –it’s as if the band is letting you know that the album is coming to an end, but by no means is this a reason for IX to lose speed!

IX is an incredibly powerful black/speed metal release. It has lots of replay value, and if you’re a fan of black/thrash or black/speed at all, you’re more than likely to fall in love with this band. The Day Of Wrath and Neurodeliri are also great albums by this band, but neither of them can really hold a flame to IX.

Bulldozer's finest moment... - 95%

Skullhammer, February 11th, 2005

After originally sounding more like a darker and thrashier Venom, Bulldozer finally have developed their own unique sound. In my opinion, this is their best album. The production here is superb compared to the first 2 albums. It's not perfect but much better than the distant and thin production and The Day Of Wrath and the noisy production of The Final Separation.

IX opens up and it's a massive thrash assault with screeching vocals that almost sound like Max Cavalera especially the verse lines that have one vocal line over another. The song has a dark feel to it and is very thrashy. The song also features a nice solo.

Desert blasts in and it is the best Bulldozer track in their entire career. It starts off with acoustic guitars in the background and a distorted guitar playing some harmony. Then the thrash comes in. Massive riff after another with fantastic vocals. The guitar work here is simply amazing. It's so ironic that Bulldozer play these primitive riffs but then they unleash an amazing fucking lead riff at the end of each vocal line. The intro is played again halfway through the song and then comes in an amazing solo. Seriously... how do they play so well?

Ilona The Very Best is a short solid thrasher. Great vocals, great riffs, and 2 short but nice solos.

Misogynists is one hell of a thrash frenzy. Fast riffs with simple blast beats. Great solo too.

Heaven's Jail is twice as lethal and twice as aggressive as the track before. The solo is pretty primitive here mostly consisting of weird bends but it still kicks ass.

Rob "Klister" comes next and is the worst song on this album. It's just a short boring thrasher that really has nothing memorable and offers nothing to the listener. It's fast and has decent riffs but not developed enough to actually make me care.

The Derby is a bit of a slower track but still aggressive and brutal with killer vocals... "HATRED! HATRED! HATRED!" The riffs and the speed remind me of Slaughter. And of course, what could a fantastic Bulldozer song be without the killer melodic solo? The song ends rahter abruptly with the last minute being the same riff over and over again speeding up a bit each time with some violence heard in the background.

No Way brings back the fast thrash. Killer chorus and nice riffs. Solid track that ends with a piano.

The Vision Never Fades starts with an eiree orchestral tune and then in comes a blazing mid-paced thrash assault. The song has terrific riffs that are for once not primitive simple power chords and shredding palm mutes. The solo halfway through is breathtaking. Fantastic fucking black/thrash.

This album almost received the perfect 100 but nothing memorable was found in Rob "Klister" and in parts of a few other tracks but who cares... this album fucking rules! If you love old school black/thrash, you'll love this. If you love thrash and you aren't a pussy and you can take raw production, check this out. This is the best Bulldozer release just because of Desert! GET IT NOW!