Thursday 29 September 2011

#087 Evile - Five Serpent's Teeth

Evile, it must be said, are doing rather well, and have been for some time. Both of their albums were well received by thrash-fans world-wide, and the expectations for this, their third album, are high. It pleased me upon listening, to discover that the band certainly haven't lost momentum yet, not slowed down, and not lost their thrash roots. What pleased me even more was to discover that they've improved, and are well on their was to having a noticeable sound, as opposed to being a little on the generic side, which their earlier material was.


 One of the things which I struggle with, when it comes to Evile, used to be finding any of the songs particularly memorable. Not any longer - Evile have really upped the catchiness of their songs on this record, with most of the songs being at least a little distinct. Lyrically, the album has some excellent hooks, and the vocals have improved quite a bit, and although sounding a little overproduced in places, are overall quite pleasing, and certainly complete the structure which the guitars, bass and drums had already began to construct on previous albums. I've always considered the third album to be the beginning of a bands maturity, and Five Serpent's Teeth certainly sounds that way, being more diverse, distinct and possessing a confident edge, moreso than any of the bands early material. Evile have a recognisable style too, now, with ridiculously fast rhythm guitar which has been present since the onset of the band, but I can't help but truly appreciate on this album as something which sets them apart somewhat.

A lot of the solos are also blistering, and I admire them in the nostalgic way that I admired the solos of Megadeth and Metallica when I first got into thrash, which I'm sure is a good sign. The new album has a lot more beauty too, with plenty of pleasant, epic-sounding bridge sections and intros which add a lot to the albums character, and do a lot to season it somewhat, heck, the album even has an 80's thrash style ballad, and whatsmore, it's done rather well. The title "In Memoriam" no doubt a tribute to the bands deceased bass player, Mike Alexander. There's a little more of a groove element than you might encounter in an 80's band, but the band pull it off well, refining what they did on Infected Nations, albeit making it more memorable and sharper, a little more atmospheric, and altogether a lot more listenable.



Five Serpent's teeth is certainly an album which was enjoyable to listen to, and can be summarised as essentially a better  version of their previous two albums. It's certainly a landmark in their career, and while it isn't one of the definitive releases of the year, I enjoyed almost every song.

I give the album 8/10.

Links:
Evile Official site
Evile on Myspace
Evile on Facebook
Evile on Metal-Archives

Sunday 25 September 2011

#086 Skull Fist - Head of the Pack

Speed-metal band Skull Fist demonstrate Canada's ability to do things a little differently when it comes to metal. "Head of the Pack" is the bands first full length, and demonstrates, along with the band's excellent playing and catchiness, their toungue-in-cheek humour, and light-hearted but heavy as hell musical attitude. If you can get over the unsightly cover-art, the album is an excellent listen.


The album bursts into life with virtuosic lead guitar, and old school sounding rhythm, almost exactly in the style that I'd consider to be "quintessential" speed metal, which is only boosted by the high-pitch vocals, which sound rather unique, be it in the style they are projected, or in the accent they are sung. Everything about the album sounds rather old-school, but I'd hesitate to place the band in the "New wave of traditional-metal" which many bands of a similar age and aesthetic - Skull Fist are overtly doing something entirely different, albeit something which is different not quite entirely in sound or aesthetic, more to do with the very spirit of the music. Many retro-traditional bands set out to create the sound - Skull fist seem to be more likely to have simply arrived at the sound they have through spending time in the company of a desire to make heavy music, an entirely organic, non-forced process. Skull fist almost sounds like their sound has been cross-bred with a hint of glam-metal, with the occasional moment of sounding like Motley Crue punctuating the album, albeit in a good way.

Often, a very technically able band will have trouble creating songs which are catchy, but this seems to prove almost no problem to this band, managing to blend aspects of great technical ability with catchiness and punching-power in a lot of their riffage, and sweet melody in the lead. The vocals too, are breath-taking, in terms of range, competence, and memorability, the latter of which is boosted sky high by some fantastic vocal licks. The bands sound is nicely encapsulated by the production, with possibly the most orgasmic snare-sound I've encountered in a month or two. Everything comes out quite nicely in the production, but the production itself remains pleasingly unpolished, unshaven, and individual, as opposed to the much-feared plastic sound too many bands have adopted. The album feels nicely rounded in this way, and feels very whole.


There aren't, cover art excluded, many points of complaint on the album, definitely none of which spoilt it as a listen. It's quite a unique set of songs, and I found that that made it all the more pleasing. It also strongly demonstrates that young metal-bands still have a lot to offer the scene.

I give the album 8/10...

Links:
Skull Fist on Myspace
Skull Fist on Facebook
Skull Fist on Metal Archives

Thursday 22 September 2011

#085 White Wizzard - Flying Tigers

Despite almost constant lineup problems, White Wizzard's follow up to 2010's "Over the Top" arrives only a year later, which comes as something of a surprise, considering that the band members come and go like regulars to a pub. The album continues in the bands "new wave of traditional metal" vein, and the aesthetic, and largely the music style also, continue in the spirit of their past releases.


Listening to the album, it's probably fair to say that White Wizzard have developed and diversified a bit. Instead of an album packed with cheerful songs about how awesome metal is, there are plenty of genuinely legitimate lyrical themes, with everything from aliens to Atlantis. Cheesy, no doubt, but still much more varied than the previous album. The song styles are a bit more varied too, which is refreshing, for instance, "Starchild" is unmistakeably a ballad, which is something not seen enough in metal today. It's well executed to, with epic solos, and a chorus which is memorised completely by the end of the song. The band seem to have established a reasonable balance between raucous fun and exciting songwriting, something which the previous album leaned on the former. While essentially, Flying Tigers is just more of the same, it's definitely a more mature release, with a sound which is beginning to become distinct, and not just a Priest and Maiden clone. Some of the bands stuff is genuinely a bit new - not groundbreaking, but nonetheless, it makes them a lot more worth investing an hour in, listening to the album.

In this release, the band are a little bit more technical, and each instrument sounds generally a little more refined, although lead, rhythm and bass guitar were all produced by Jon Leon, which, presumably makes him the Jon Schaffer of traditional metal. Nonetheless, the album's sound is very cohesive, and natural sounding. The production is good, capturing but not polishing the band, which partly makes it sound even more "retro". Musically, the album seems a bit faster, and a little more intense in places. There's more low-tempo stuff, but conversely, the high-tempo material is at a higher-tempo than the last album, which is one of the major distinct points which the band have created for themselves - while much of what they do has been done, not all of it has often been done at the tempo that White Wizzard pull it off.


It's not a bad album, that much is certain. It shows that the band have developed, and matured, and I wish I had much more hope  for the bands future, but with the unstable lineup (The vocalist on this album has already left the band again) I don't know what the future holds for the band. Fortunately, they've battled through for a good while already, and managed to produce some reasonable material, which, hopefully, they can do again.

I give Flying Tigers 8/10.

Links:
White Wizzard on Myspace
White Wizzard on Metal-Archives

Monday 19 September 2011

#084 Warbringer - Waking Into Nightmares

Warbringer are one of the bands at the forefront of the thrash-revival, and are doing well. With their third album being highly anticipated, I decided to check out this, their second album, to see what the buzz was about, and, having listened to the album, I think my query is answered.


A lot of Waking Into Nightmares sounds hugely energetic, speedy, and in places downright rabid. The music bursts forth from speakers like a torrent of intensely riff-driven thrash, stripping flesh-from-bone, and inducing headbanging wherever it goes. Not one song goes by without at least one meaty, heavy and deliciously thrashy riff in it, with a lot more chunkiness and muscle than I've come to expect from many of the new-wave thrash acts. Another distinct advantage of not having riffs which are nicely structured is that the songs are a lot more distinct, and most of the songs are more memorable than those of many of the bands peers. Warbringer seem to be drawing a lot of influence from Testament and Exodus, especially, and it's quite evident in their songs, for example, there is a strong sense of  Testament in "Abandoned by Time". Rather than being annoying, I found this to be genuinely quite reassuring and pleasing, with a sense of nostalgia, but also musical heritage.

The lead work, too, is enjoyable, and plenty of emphasis is placed upon it in the songs, which adds something to the music. The lead guitar is quite recognisable, and the band certainly have it as something of a signature, and if the band last for a good many years, there will certainly be such a thing recognised as a "Warbringer" style solo. The band also demonstrate their diversity with the epic-sounding, somewhat relaxed "Nightmare Anatomy" - a surreal sounding song, with some genuine uniqueness around it, something which modern thrash needs all it can get of, as is the song after it, which genuinely sounds unlike any thrash song I've listened to in a long time, if ever. With an interesting range of hooks, and vocals which sound like everything from Martin Van Drunen to Tom Araya.


About four songs into the album, I found myself really looking forward to the next song, as soon as the last had finished. If that's not the sign of a good listen, then I'm not sure what is. Certainly, the thrash revival are criticised for being unoriginal, but Warbringer are extremely good at what they do, and that is timeless.

I'll give this album 9/10, I reckon.

Links:
Warbringer on Myspace
Warbringer on Metal Archives

Saturday 17 September 2011

#083 Machine Head - Unto The Locust

The Blackening is one of only a couple of post-thrash/groove metal albums which I've enjoyed truly thoroughly, and I've often lamented that there are not more groove-metal albums in the style. Machine Head, it is widely accepted, will have to do a lot to top it, in the albums follow-up, "Unto The Locust".


Musically, it would seem that Machine Head have taken what was enjoyable about The Blackening, and built upon it. Robb Flynn's growling, angry, and yet almost tuneful vocals are very reminiscent of the album, and the speed and aggression of the music is there, and is often built upon, especially in songs such as the blistering and remorseless three-part opening track, "I Am Hell" which opens the albums musical gates open wide, in the same way that "Clenching the Fists of Dissent" did on the blackening, although I cannot decide which is more enjoyable, although the latter still certainly holds my personal seal. While the album opener equals it's predecessor, it doesn't, in my opinion, top it, which is what so many people hoped. However, Unto the Locust then proceeds to demonstrate that Machine Head not only are undeniably still on their game, but also that they can pull a few improvements out of the box. "Be Still and Know" is a technically masterful and catchy groove-fest, very lead heavy, and with fist pounding choruses - exactly what groove-metal is about, and exactly what machine head do best, and, as the track shows, continue to improve at. 

The production is similar to The Blackening, and continues to be very much acceptable - no clicky, over-polished junk, but certainly no fuzz either. Judging that "The Blackening" has perhaps the optimum production for the band, and that this album is the same, it doesn't really bode mentioning. Musically too, for the most part, the band seem to be sticking with what they honed in The Blackening. Although there are certainly subtle differences, and what would appear to be an increase in technical ability among the band members, Unto the Locust is what I'd essentially describe as a slightly higher definition of it's predecessor, a groove metal sandwich with a little bit more filling - In places, it's very apparent that the album is as such. A lot of it is quite a bit more intense, with a lot more speedy-riffing and machine-gun vocals, and, on the faster songs, a higher tempo than just about anything on The Blackening. There's more depth to the music too, and it's clear that on this album, the band have felt more comfortable to put a few extra layers into the music, for example the many layers of backing-vocals on "This Is The End".


Unto the Locust is definitely mined from the same vein of creativity that spawned The Blackening, but as the vein is mined, it seems to be getting a little richer. Ideally, this album is the second of what could be a plateau of good albums, a streak which hopefully will not end here. The only down-point on the album was "The Darkness Within" - a good song on it's own merit, but it stuck out on the album like a sore thumb, sounding more generic and mainstream than the bands usual enjoyable output, although it does redeem itself later on in the song. The album is solid, and it lives up to it's predecessor like a son to a father. 

I give Unto The Locust 9/10.

Links:
Machine Head Official site
Machine Head on Myspace
Machine Head on Metal-Archives.

Thursday 15 September 2011

#082 Death - Spiritual Healing

Death are undeniably one of the most influential bands in death-metal, and, for that matter, in extreme metal as a whole. Spiritual Healing, the bands third album represents a mature, complete sound, Crisp and well produced, the album represents the band going from strength to strength.


 Having essentially pioneered the genre of death-metal, there's really no question that Death are excellent in executing the style, and this album is no exception. Death knew what they were doing, years before other genre defining bands had gotten into the business of releasing albums. In Spiritual Healing, the huge underlying thrash influence is as apparent as ever, and I often think that had Death emerged today, they would have been lumped into the death-thrash category, as opposed to the death-metal one. Nonetheless, the hallmarks of death-metal are undisputedly present - the guttural vocals, crushing tone, and lyrical themes are all present, and are stylishly done, but combined with thrashy energy and speed - whilst thousands of bands have been influenced by Death, few manage to emulate their style, especially their guitar work, which is without compare, despite being part of a band made up almost exclusively of hugely gifted musicians.

While the two albums prior to spiritual healing were similar in style, the production values of this album make it stand out further - capturing the bands energy better than the somewhat muddy production values of the previous two. In this album, Death are an altogether sharper instrument, and the fog of poor production is pushed back to reveal more of the intricate, excellent music going on in each and every song. The thrash which always hides, just beneath the surface also adds to the music. Compared to a lot of extreme metal, Death's material is quite memorable, perhaps in part due to the diversity within it - Death make use of more than just blastbeats,  (which weren't hugely in vogue at the time, anyway) instead utilising mainly thrashy 2/4 and 4/4 beats, which add a bit of space to enjoy the music, and causes the songs not to possess the similarity which many blastbeat driven death-metal bands possess.


Spiritual Healing continues in the vein of it's predecessors, but it is certainly the album in which Death came into their own, and all of the records attributes reflect this, from the increase in production value to the increasing songwriting skill, Death begin to blow  me away on this album.

I give Spiritual healing a 9/10.

Links:
Death official site
Death on Myspace
Death on Metal Archives

Tuesday 13 September 2011

#081 - Emperor - In The Nightside Eclipse

Emperor were a Norwegian black metal band at the very heart of the scene, however, they eluded my attention until relatively recently. However, I decided to listen to them properly for the first time recently, and I feel enlightened for doing so - seeing a whole new, and enjoyable, dimension of early second-wave black metal.


Along with bands like Enslaved, Emperor were among the first black metal bands to add synth and keyboard work to their sound. Enslaved, on one hand, took a viking-metal influenced approach. On the other hand, Emperor created a glacial, cold and epic sounding work, their black-metal fury and speed unhindered by the introduction of keyboards, which serve only to deepen the black-metal chill, albeit adding  a lot of memorability to the songs. The songs are very layered and complex, long before other bands on the scene were doing such things, and the production is very clean, unlike the raw sound of bands like Darkthrone. of course, the production values are far from polished, which is apt for the bands style. The balance within the band, in all aspects - production, sound, song-style, and the balance between beauty and aggression are all very apparent, and enjoyable to listen to. Emperor sound pleasingly well rounded in thier debut.

The technical ability of the musicians involved is also noticeable, and certainly higher than it was among many of the other  bands at the time, and this is carried forwards in the sheer power of the music. The vocals, especially, are very well executed, and extremely chilling, for instance, their sheer demonic intensity in "Towards the Pantheon" is marvelously impressive, and emphasises the core values of black metal - chilling and cold music. The combination of tight black-metal staple guitar and haunting keyboard really helps the band to produce this, and they do it on a par with any other band of the same style. Emperor were clearly a band thinking out-of-the-box at the time, singing songs about things other than misanthropy and Satan, diversifying the genre which they contributed to, and doing so with excellent style, which is reflected in the album itself - it has a little bit of everything; Fast, deadly black metal, but also slower, unbelievably epic sections, which the keyboards truly come into their own.


Of all the black-metal albums of the time, that being 1994, In The Nightside Eclipse seems particularly well formed and generally enjoyable from end-to-end. There isn't a second of filler, and each track is memorable in it's own right.

I give the album 9/10.

Links:
Emperor Official Site
Emperor on Myspace
Emperor on Metal-Archives

Sunday 11 September 2011

#080 Ancient Wisdom - A Godlike Inferno

First and foremost, I'd like to apologise for the shortage of reviews of late, as I've been moving into university accommodation, and engaging in the activities associated thereof - buying toasters, for example. Today, I wondered into a shop to see what albums they had...

When I picked up "A Godlike Inferno" by Ancient Wisdom, I expected a black-metal or perhaps post-black-metal record. I bought the album on a whim, after seeing a poster for it in Terrorizer magazine. What greeted me upon inspection was a dark, minimalistic, and somewhat soft, almost gothic record, of clean-vocal 90's sounding rock, of quite a subdued nature.


This stuff is very catchy compared to what I'm used to, especially when I was mentally prepared to listen to a black metal record. The vocals are mellow, melancholy, and extremely catchy and evocative, with a soothing, earthy quality. Many of the songs are smooth, almost lullaby like, which is very pleasing. The album is certainly something I'd recommend to someone in search of chill out music, or something to compliment sorrow. I also found the change rather refreshing, as this music is a style which I haven't tapped into in a long, long time - It's much softer then my melancholy music of choice - doom metal, and approaches the mood from a completely different angle, but still carries the beautiful mournfulness which I seek. The vocals remind me a bit of bands like Type O Negative, but are performed in a more rock, less operatic style. The combination of the rocky sound, and the gothic, almost kvlt feel is a very interesting combination, and the track titles alone were enough to lull me into thinking that the album was almost certainly black metal.

The album seems to be well formed, and I can definitely sense a minor classic in the making, even if it's an underground classic, as opposed to becoming hugely renowned. Stylistically, I'd describe Ancient Wisdom as being like the "Baroness" of their genre - a band who play everything a little bit differently, and make some hugely rewarding songs to listen to, if the distinct style suits your ears. The music is very minimalist, with quite bare bones instrumentation, and only a few effects. The production feels very honest and without ornamentation, which gives the album an hones appeal, with the knowledge that the band is recorded as they sound. The album feels like a very compact effort, and it's pleasing to behold.


While in the strictest sense, the band wouldn't appear to be metal, I feel that I'm certainly entitled to review them here. While what they play isn't heavy, the band themselves are huge metal-fans, judging by their picture, and the albums aesthetics also suggests this. All in all, this is the best rock I've listened to in a good while. Ancient Wisdom are, to conclude, Ghost's bluesy American cousin.

I give "A Godlike Inferno" 8/10.

Links:
Ancient VVisdom on Myspace
Ancient VVisdom on Shinebox Recordings

Wednesday 7 September 2011

#079 Atlantean Kodex - The Golden Bough

"The Golden Bough" is Atlantean Kodex's debut full-length album. Combining standard heavy metal with a strong vein of doom-metal, the band create a melancholic, crushing, yet beautiful soundscape for the listener to explore for the whole sixty-five minutes of it's duration.


Sound-wise, Atlantean Kodex are somewhat reminiscent of the band Solstice - with mournful, beautiful, clean vocals, crushing, deep riffs, and an atmosphere which is shared by both bands undeniably, but is difficult to explain. However, Atlantean Kodex have a stronger traditional metal element to their sound, and are more prone to faster sections and other features connoting a traditional approach. That said, the doom elements are definitely there, and overtly so. Slow, crushing riffs rule most of the songs, with a tone evocative of a sheer epicness with few equals. The albums carries a haunting sound all the way through, and, although most doom bands do this in some way, this band manage to do so in their own unique style, treading a path unlike many of the quintessential atmospheric-doom bands of today. One of the things I especially took notice of was the extensive use of chugging riffs in many songs, such as "Fountain of Nepenthe" as opposed to a more expected "single, sustained chords" approach. This seems to give the music a great deal of vigour, while not draining the slow, peaceful nature of doom metal, suggesting that the blend of styles is close to optimal.

The whole album is an excellent musical landscape to get lost in, as the music has so much going on in it, especially considering the fact that the songs are of a typically doom length, juxtaposed with them being a little faster than the average doom metal, meaning that the songs have many twists and turns. To an extent, this also makes that band more difficult to initially absorb, with many of the songs taking a good few listens to enjoy. I'd certainly say that this is an album for the determined, as opposed to the casual listener. Testament to that is the fact that I first listened to the music about six months ago, and have only just gotten into it properly now. Quite a few distraction free car and bus journeys are needed to focus enough on the music enough to take it in completely, but when the songs have been committed to memory through this, it is infinitely worth while, as while the production isn't "perfect" (I think it's quite near, personally), and some of the arrangement is a little clumsy, with riffs moving into other sections with little in the way of transition, these flaws can be utterly disregarded in light of the album when listened to in the right conditions.


Atlantean Kodex seem to have made waves with their debut, and I expect great things from them in the future. If the band produce an album equal to this again, it will be excellent, but with luck, what they make next will iron out the tiny flaws presented in this, and create an utter classic, which this album itself comes close to being.

I give "The Golden Bough" 8/10

Links:
Atlantean Kodex Official site
Atlantean Kodex on Metal Archives

Sunday 4 September 2011

#078 Attick Demons - Atlantis

Attick Demons have been around for a good fifteen years, and were, untill recently, completely without an album. "Atlantis" marks the first full-length offering on the bands part, and seems a solid, well planned, and certainly well polished release. And yes, I'll get to the point, He sounds a lot like Bruce Dickinson.


Listening to the album is, admittedly, something of a confusing experience. The vocalist, Artur Almeida, sounds strikingly, dare I say, unnaturally similar to Bruce Dickinson, but, thankfully, the band are distinct enough to be worthy of enjoyment. Despite sounding massively like Iron Maiden, Both instrumentally and vocally, the band certainly possess elements which make them something more than a mere 'Maiden clone. The power metal elements are very apparent in the bands sound, and a lot of the musical devices employed are things which 'Maiden simply wouldn't do. The album is very well written, and solid, with extremely well-planned sounding songs abound, and what I can only conclude to be a complete absence of filler. When you manage to get the Iron Maiden association, which seems to have both blessed and cursed the band, out of your head, the music reveals itself to be a powerful brew in it's own right, possessing superb traditional stylings, blended with intense, non-flowery power-metal epicness.

I had the inclination that something good had been discovered by the amount of attention this seemingly little-known band had begun to receive around the Internet after the albums release, and, as far as my ears tell me, I wasn't far off. Attick Demons seem to manage to do a bit of everything, and in nice ratio's too. The blend of traditional and power-metal styles is smooth, and reminds me of Pharaoh, and, despite being so similar to a certain someone, the vocals are undoubtedly those of a virtuoso. In just over forty-five minutes of music, the band have gotten a lot done, there are catchy songs, songs of great epicness, and one of them even has an excellent duet vocal. Essentially, this album has something for everyone, and if Iron Maiden were to release it, it would almost certainly become a classic. Perhaps that says something about the alteration of perception by a name, a reputation. Perhaps Attick Demons' future is uncertain, but I'm going to declare that, based on the strength of this debut, they may not be quite as obscure for long.


Perhaps the band isn't the most original sounding band in the box, but, regardless, it was a good listen. There is a certain satisfaction to be had upon hearing a metal band produce music which is true to the spirit of metal, and it is even more satisfying to hear them doing it well.

I give the album 8/10.

Links:
Attick Demons official site
Attick Demons on Myspace
Attick Demons on Metal Archives






Thursday 1 September 2011

#077 Hellhammer - Apocalyptic Raids

As one of the fundamental ingredients in the early black-metal scene, Hellhammer are very well known, despite having only released one EP, and a couple of long demos. "Apocalyptic Raids" is the bands first, and only EP, and despite its shortness, is highly enjoyable.


Four songs and twenty-minutes in length, "Apocalyptic Raids" still manages to fit a lot in. Hellhammer deliver a thrashy assault on the senses, in the style of bands like Venom and Motorhead, and, while being closely associated with the first wave of black-metal, the band would almost certainly be considered black-thrash, instead, if they emerged now. The instrumentation is reasonably simple, but also very effective, with memorable, long-sustained power chord riffs, which buzz and rasp through the songs with an extremely enjoyable tone, and a range of vocals, with what would become traditional black-metal screaming, but was about five years before that association was made. In tracks like the "epic" of the EP, the nine-minute "Triumph of Death", the dark and occult atmosphere which bands like Venom, at the time, did not possess to such an extent, setting bands like Hellhammer and Bathory apart as pioneering the terrifying and raw atmosphere of future black metal. From the artwork and production values, too, a strong influence is shown, with the minimalistic, black and red approach to art taken by so many black metal bands today, and the raw recordings often favoured.

The music on the EP, and the majority of Hellhammer's material, if you lend your ear to it, has a very solid sound. In many cases, the fact that the music does not have a huge array of decoration and frill is actually very pleasing, making the songs very memorable, catchy, and allowing the listener to appreciate the simpler elements of the music; The immense guitar driven sound, and pounding rhythmic drums really feel energetic, primal, and altogether METAL. The bass too, is audible, which pleases me greatly. I'm glad that Hellhammer didn't feel the need to be "kvlt" as later bands did, and excessively soak their sound in treble, making the bass sound inaudible. In this EP though, the bass is loud, clear, and damn enjoyable. It adds an extra helping of depth, power and oomph to the music, and keeps its speedy sound, with distinct pauses, as opposed to the later "wall of sound" school of black metal.


All in all, listening to the EP, the sheer influence of the music is apparent. However, the EP is bloody-splendid in it's own right, with it's raucous, dark sound, and angry tone. Anyone who likes an EP filled to the brim with spit and energy would benefit from listening to this, even if you don't like black-metal. And if you listen to Celtic Frost... well... you had better know the name Hellhammer.

I give the EP 9/10.

Links:
Hellhammer Official Site
Hellhammer on Myspace
Hellhammer on Metal-Archives