Bolt Thrower were a British death metal band from Coventry, England. They formed in 1986 and released their first album with Vinyl Solution in 1988. The band then shifted to a new record label, Earache Records, soon becoming one of the best selling bands on that label. Their last label was Metal Blade Records. The band had a succession of members and have toured Europe, the United States, and Australia. Over the course of their 30-year career, Bolt Thrower had released eight studio albums, three EPs, one live album, two compilation albums and two demos. On September 14, 2016, the band announced that they were breaking up, following the death of drummer Martin Kearns exactly a year earlier.