Time Signature
Lead us into hell...
Genre: thrash metal
Deathhammer are metal thrashing mad!
The Norwegian thrash metal duo make no buts about it on "Onwards to the Pits" which offers a blend of dirty black thrash and primitive speed metal. Right from the blastbeat-filled opener 'Deathrashing Sacrifice' to the black speed metal barrage that is the album's title track, the listener is bombarded with fast and primitive riffage which has enough aggression to keep and entire band of Norse berzerkers going for hours. While the anchor-style of the album is black speed metal, Deathhammer include some more punky elements every now and then, which can be heard in 'Voodoo Rites', for instance.
The musicianship is not to be underestimated. While the riffs and drum figures are considerably primitive, most of them are performed at breakneck speed with admirable precision. The vocals are probably an acquired taste, and, with all the high pitched screams and shrieks, it might strike many listeners as being hysterical and over the top; but as a friend told me, Deathhammer can never be too hysterical. The solos have a raw and chaotic quality to them. We are definitely not talking über technical shredding here, but that would not fit the music anyway.
The production is considerably lo-fi, and the sound quality is slightly different from track to track, but a common feature is that all all tracks are drowned in reverb - a deliberate move, I think, in an attempt to capture that unique 80 thrash metal sound.
If you like old school 80s speed metal and primitive black thrash (imagine Holy Terror, early Slayer, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, and Venom combined into a hellishly evil demon), then you should definitely giev this album a listen. It is jam packed full of fast, furious and, most importantly, evil blackened speed metal.