| Those Once Loyal | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 11 November 2005 | |||
| Recorded | May–September 2005 | |||
| Studio | Sable Rose (Coventry) | |||
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| Length | 39:32 | |||
| Label | Metal Blade | |||
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| Bolt Thrower chronology | ||||
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Those Once Loyal is the eighth and final studio album by British death metal band Bolt Thrower, released on 11 November 2005 by Metal Blade Records. Recorded with producer Andy Faulkner at Sable Rose Studios in Coventry, England, it was the first Bolt Thrower album since Mercenary (1998) to feature vocalist Karl Willetts, who rejoined the band in November 2004.
Musically, Those Once Loyal incorporates tighter song structures and arrangements into Bolt Thrower's melodic, groove-based sound, while enhancing the production quality of the band's previous albums. As with their earlier works, the lyrics address various aspects of war. Commentators and music critics have noted that the album has a thematic focus on World War I, which was previously explored on the band's fifth album ...For Victory (1994); its cover artwork is inspired by a plaque on the Guards Memorial in St. James's Park, London.
Well received by critics upon release, Those Once Loyal debuted at number 76 on the German Offizielle Top 100 chart, becoming the highest-charting album of Bolt Thrower's career. The band supported the album's release with the Those Still Loyal Tour across Europe, running from January to June 2006. Those Once Loyal would be Bolt Thrower's final album before the band announced an indefinite hiatus from recording in June 2008, although they continued to tour until the death of drummer Martin Kearns on 14 September 2015 and their subsequent disbandment in 2016, on the first anniversary of his death.