DEMOLITION HAMMER — Time Bomb (review)

DEMOLITION HAMMER — Time Bomb album cover Album · 1994 · Groove Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
3.5/5 ·
UMUR
"Time Bomb" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US thrash metal act Demolition Hammer. The album was released in August 1994 by Century Media Records. Alledgedly the album was recorded with the intention of being released under a new monicker but Century Media Records refused to release the album unless the band opted to use the Demolition Hammer name. The lineup that recorded "Time Bomb" only featured two of the original members of the band and as there´s a significant change in musical direction compared to the band´s first two albums, the name change might have been a good idea. Guitarist James Reilly left the band after "Epidemic of Violence" (1992) and so did drummer Vincent "Vinny Daze" Civitano. The latter left the band to pursue a career as a tatoo artist and was said to have considerable talent in that direction. Sadly Vincent "Vinny Daze" Civitano died of Globefish Poisoning in March 1996 after having attended a tatoo convention in Japan. The two remaining members of the original lineup lead vocalist/ bassist Steve Reynolds and guitarist Derek Sykes were joined by drummer Alex Marquez (who came fresh out of a stint with Malevolent Creation) for the recording of "Time Bomb", which was recorded as a trio.

The musical style on the first two Demolition Hammer albums is ripping death/thrash with fiercely aggressive vocals, riot gang backing vocals and fast paced and screaming guitar soloing. On "Time Bomb" the band has incorporated a lot more groove into their sound. In addition to that the usually fast-paced death/thrash assault is mostly replaced with a mid-paced heavy groove, making "Time Bomb" a kind of brutal and really heavy groove thrash metal album. Another thing that has changed is that "Time Bomb" features next to no guitar solos, which as mentioned above used to be a dominant part of the band´s sound. Something that hasn´t changed is the fiercely aggressive and snarling raw vocal delivery by Steve Reynolds. His style is comparable to the sound of vocalists like Miland "Mille" Petrozza from Kreator and Jeff Walker from Carcass. Does he sound pissed or what? A great feature IMO. With the exception of the Devo cover track "Mongoloid", which is pretty good but not on par with the original material on the album, the quality of the material is really high although a bit more formulaic than we´re used to from the band. Razor sharp groovy riffing, tight playing and those caustic vocals.

The sound production is sharp and powerful, suiting the material perfectly. So upon conclusion "Time Bomb" is a great brutal groove/thrash metal album and while I will probably always prefer the band´s early output to this one, I still find "Time Bomb" to be a good quality release. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.
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