Track Review: “Dead Horizons” by Bloodshot

Hailing from the South East of England, the Death Metal live force to be reckoned with that is Bloodshot established themselves back in 2016. Taking a quality over quantity approach, each single they have released to date has been a laser guided missile strike, hitting and obliterating the target razor sharp riffage, artillery shelling percussive battery and flame thrower solos fueled by Napalm to melt the faces of the audience. Influenced by the 90s era of the genre (that’s bands like Rottrevore, Resurrection and Infester rather than the 80s predecessors that inspired them like Deicide, Obituary and Morbid Angel), they embrace modern production values, not wanting to be labeled Old School. We bore witness to them live at Rabidfest in 2021, a set which lives long in the memory for all the right reasons.

It’s been three years since the bands self titled two track EP dropped making “Dead Horizons” the first new material since the great plague years from a band who frankly the World deserves to hear more from – and that’s a comment that is made before a single note of this new cut is heard, the anticipation of it the kind of excitement that a four year old experiences on Christmas Eve. Bloodshot do not disappoint, delivering a ready for Maryland Death Fest riff to raise the hairs on the back of the neck and call to the Mosh Pit at the very start. The oppressive hot as hell atmosphere comes from the scalding vocals with the band then hitting with the one two combination punches of a prize fighter. A Groove Death laden mid section is a recipie for a sore neck, a Pantera style drum sound adding a weight and gravity while stuccato riffs come crawling out of the woodwork like termites. It has a bounce, verve and swagger that comes with confidence in musicianship and belief in what you’re doing as well as the direction you’re headed in, something which shines through. There’s a word for this that we don’t use lightly, which is “classic” because Bloodshot are as guilty as someone found at the site of a homicide with hands covered in blood in creating this stone cold winner [9/10]