The IVth Crusade

For the historical event, see Fourth Crusade.
The IVth Crusade
Studio album by
Bolt Thrower
Released2 November 1992[1]
RecordedSawmills Studio, August 1992
Genre
Length53:28
LabelRelativity, Earache
ProducerColin Richardson and Bolt Thrower
Bolt Thrower chronology
War Master
(1991) 		The IVth Crusade
(1992) 		Spearhead
(1992)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal4/10[3]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[4]
The Great Metal Discography7/10[5]
Kerrang![6]
Metal Storm9.3/10[7]
Rock Hard9/10[8]
Select[9]

The IVth Crusade is the fourth studio album by British death metal band Bolt Thrower. It was recorded at Sawmill Studios in August 1992 and produced by Bolt Thrower and Colin Richardson. The album was engineered by John Cornfield and mixed at Fon studios. It was also engineered by Alan Fisch and Steve Harris. It was released through Earache Records as Mosh 70 in 1992. The album title comes from the Fourth Crusade and the capturing of Constantinople. The cover artwork is a painting from Eugène Delacroix, showing "The Entry of the Crusaders in Constantinople".

For this album Bolt Thrower slowed down considerably compared to War Master, focusing more on playing heavy riffs and a thick sound. The album features a more death/doom metal-driven style, and which was influenced by doom metal bands including Candlemass and Pentagram. Particularly, this style is apparent in songs like "This Time It's War" or "As the World Burns".

"Embers" opens and ends as "Cenotaph" did on the previous album War Master, and leads into "Powder Burns" on Mercenary.

  1. ^ http://www.metalcovenant.com/pages/cdreviews/the_IVth_crusade.htm [bare URL]
  2. ^ The IVth Crusade review allmusic.com. Retrieved on 17 October 2011.
  3. ^ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 59. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  4. ^ Larkin, Colin, ed. (1998). "Bolt Thrower". The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 1. MUZE Inc. p. 649. ISBN 0-333-74134-X.
  5. ^ Strong, Martin C. (1998). "Bolt Thrower". The Great Metal Discography. Canongate. p. 48-49. ISBN 0862417279 – via Internet Archive.
  6. ^ Gitter, Mike (7 November 1992). "Rekordz". Kerrang!. No. 417. EMAP. p. 17.
  7. ^ Killjoy, Troy (25 April 2012). "Bolt Thrower - The IVth Crusade review". Metal Storm. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  8. ^ Albrecht, Frank (19 November 1992). "The IVth Crusade". Rock Hard (in German). Retrieved 16 December 2023. (subscription required)
  9. ^ Clarke, Jeremy (January 1993). "Soundbites". Select. EMAP. p. 72.