First War is the debut album of the Dutch death metal band Warmaster. The band consists of ex-members of Eternal Solstice and Dark Remains, and they seem to be inspired by Bolt Thrower, Six Feet Under, Obituary, and Bolt Thrower. Heck...even their bandname is a Bolt Thrower record.

Before I put in First War I contemplated the following: This could either sound like an average Bolt Thrower cover band that doesn't bring anything new to the table, or this could be a groovy, slamming death metal band that would appeal to fans of the genre. After a few listening sessions I have to conclude that Warmaster ended up a little bit in between. They got the 'old school' sound down, the songs are decent, but I never felt visciously mutilated and beer soaked (yes, those are feelings I relate to with a good death metal record). Singer Bijlemeer has an excellent deep, gutteral grunt but could be more dynamic. I didn't receive lyrics with my promo so as far as I knew it could be one of Tolkien's Uruk Hai orcs orating a political statement about the fact that eating meat is total badass.

Jokes aside, Bolt Thrower Warmaster delivered a fine debut album. The songs are groovy and do slam, the sound is right, but after three songs you exactly know how the rest of the record will be. The saying 'If it works, don't fix it' can be applied to this band (and the genre itself), but a bit more varied songwriting wouldn't hurt. For a first war, it's a good start.