I didn’t think it was possible but Deathhammer have raised the bar, which had been set in 2010 by their full length debut Phantom Knights, with the release of their second album Onward To The Pits this year on Hell’s Headbangers. Not since the almighty Darkthrone have two dudes from Norway produced such a wicked noise! They combine the best of old school German thrash with the worst of old school American thrash and the outcome is as breakneck and precise as it is sloppy and sleazy. While I love the technicality in thrash I’m not a fan of anything too flashy and over-polished, which would explain my affinity for this band because they’re super raw. “Fullmoon Sorcery” and “Voodoo Rites” set up the album perfectly as mission statements of what to expect. Those were my personal favorites but the album doesn’t let up from there. In fact, another aspect of Deathhammer that I appreciate are their unrelenting riffs. These guys rip the Flag Of Hate to shreds and their songs are jam packed with enough hammered-on bendy notes to choke all Four Horsemen. “To The Evil” is a prime example of that. Bassist, guitarist and lead vocalist Sergeant Salsten runs the vocal gambit from low, guttural death grunts to ultra high pitched shrieks, calling up from hell and possessing you to oscillate wildly. Sadomancer who plays drums also spits up some of the nastiest response chants I’ve heard in metal in recent years. The Sergeant’s dive bomb leads on cuts like “Seduced By The Flames” and “Army Of Death” are on par with some of Piotr from Vader‘s strongest work, in my opinion. The album’s title track, feels like it’s their “Genghis Kahn” seeing how it’s the only instrumental. On Onward To The Pits Deathhammer have really come into their own as a band and it’s a vast step up in terms of their songwriting’s technicality, structure and overall quality from any of their previous efforts which have recently been compiled in a new collection called Forever Ripping Fast.
True headbangers, the one’s that lack a sense of humor and don’t read these poorly scribed articles on trendy hipster blog sites are going to love this album and that’s about the best reason I could think to write about it.
Aside from the fact that you can skate like a demon to this record!
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