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Class 6(66)
Demolition Hammer: Epidemic of violence
29/10/09 || Habakuk
Introduction
If there’s one album that deserves the label “Brutal thrash”, it’s this one here. Two years after their debut album “Tortured existence”, this 1992 effort shows Demolition Hammer at the peak of their short career and can be considered one of the finest moments in thrash metal as a whole. Their discography has been re-released in 2008 by Century Media, which should give people a chance to get a hold of this masterpiece.
Songwriting
10. Calling this album energetic is an absolute understatement. On “Epidemic of violence”, Demolition Hammer form a fucken avalanche that simply smashes every tempo or riff change that other bands might stumble over by sheer force. Songs are so dense that the first time you’ll be able to catch your breath is when the album’s over. It all sounds coherent to the point where non-enthusiasts might argue it all sounds the same. However, since I am an enthusiast, I’ll still give it a 10. And you should, too. Personal preferences aside, it should be noted that this is not a one-dimensional album. Granted, there’s a lot of classic full-on thrashing, but the four guys at hand can pull off double-bass mid-tempo crushers like “Pyroclastic Annihilation” and slower groovers like “Carnivorous Obsession” equally well. However, none of the songs just stick to one formula all the way. In moving from one section to another, no awkward transitions are to be found anymore, like they occasionally had them on their debut. Instead the best parts on this album are those where they change the pace. The moment they wrote that move from an off-beat thrash beat to on-beat half-time breakdown in “Aborticide”, they demolition-hammered their name into the Metal Wall of Fame. There is one song that is basically a 50-seconds interlude, but since it’s made of some alright riffs and sounds of people smashing shit, they get away with it.
Production
9. The drums are very prominent in the mix, which makes this a pretty relentless listening experience. The fact that they actually sound pretty fucken good helps a lot, too, obviously. In theory, the cymbals could probably be a tad louder, but when you hear this album, you’ll notice there is so much going on, it’s most likely better to have them a bit in the back. Anyway, we’re talking Demolition Hammer, not Charity Triangle, after all. The bass drums thump along nicely, and the snare has a full, thick sound. A bad snare sound would absolutely and definitely ruin this album. Doesn’t happen, thanks. The guitars sound crunchy and aggressive, just sometimes they get a bit blurry, but this is probably rather due to the tempo than production issues. When it comes to the solos, everything is pretty much crystal clear which makes them stand out from the underlying riffs pretty well. Unlike on their debut album, the bass only shines through on rare occasions, which makes the overall sound seem a bit more consistent. Compared to many other thrash albums, the bass is probably still pretty loud, though. The original production on this was pretty much flawless. With the 2008 re-release not much has changed, but somehow they managed to add some extra punch, which is never a bad thing.
Guitars
9. Reilly and Sykes knew what they were doing, shredding the shit out of their instruments and handing out riff after riff after riff. Standing on their own, they probably aren’t too, but together with the drumming, they are really, really good. Consequently, the album is not just a riff-collection but actually made of coherent songs. The guys display some absolutely frantic soloing as well, trading off double solo sections that blend perfectly. Just sometimes they go a bit over the top with the solo-wailing, which costs them one point. Technically however, everything is flawlessly executed, from the rhythm shredding to some whammy leads to the solos.
Vocals
9. This guy is pissed off. He is indeed so pissed off he can sing about a volcano eruption and make it sound good. Reynolds’ approach is one of throaty shouts – imagine Mille from Kreator could actually speak English and some guy waving a Swastika-flag just took a shit on his kitchen table. All four band members are credited for “riot vocals”, which by definition makes this album awesome. There’s indeed plenty of gang shouts to be found, and they’re pretty good as well. Some “uuuurgh”’s and “ugh”’s courtesy of Mr. Reynolds round things up nicely.
Bass
8. Reynolds keeps up with the guitar guys, which isn’t too bad to begin with. When the bass can be heard in the slower parts, it sounds pretty ace, but the production and the whole nature of this album make it more a part of the overall heaviness than an actual driver of the songs.
Drums
10. Vinny Daze shows an absolutely stellar performance. This and the fact that he’s so loud in the mix just makes this one of the most brutal Thrash albums ever. Every song here is a showcase of perfectly executed, intense, intelligent and hard-hitting drumming that adds a lot to the already awesome riffs. Listening to Envenomed around the 1-minute mark would make Igor Cavalera in his glory days watch in awe. The way Mr. Daze goes from full speed thrashing into a short doublebass part, then accentuating the guitars while building up another up-tempo section and retaining an awesome groove in the process is nothing but mindblowing.
Lyrics
7. Torture, Cannibalism, Riots, Surgery, Animals eating everything… So far so good. Lots of Thrash Metal buzz words in the song titles, too: Nightmare, Destruction, Violence, Annihilation, Dissection, you name it. But then it turns out we get a song about an erupting volcano, which is probably the lamest song theme ever. Magma Reservoirrr!!! And there is this anti-abortion song that somehow tries to mix a political stance with brutal (and otherwise alright) lyrics. Meh.
Cover art
7. Skulls and bones are chilling out on some sticks, some black-robed guy in the background is summoning stuff while burning other stuff and as if all this wasn’t enough, a brick wall is falling to pieces. Well, it’s probably no Guernica. It does the trick, though, and also, it’s done by Michael Whelan. This guy is responsible for the cover artworks on “Arise”, “Cause of death”, “Beneath the remains” and some more, so it must be good. Comparing it to their debut album’s cover also helps raising the score.
Logo
10. Letters that look like a stone wall falling apart. Bad-ass and actually quite fitting. I need this on a T- shirt.
Booklet
7. Lyrics and a picture of the guys looking tough and sporting their fancy early 90’s denim ‘n leather.
Overall and ending rant
Spin this album in your car and you’ll be back home twice as fast. This is probably one of the most brutal albums ever made, and to achieve this, Demolition Hammer didn’t need a single blastbeat, pig squeal or chug-breakdown. A 40-minutes lesson of how it’s done.
- Information
- Released: 1992
- Label: Century Media
- Website: Demolition Hammer MySpace
- Band
- Steve Reynolds: bass, lead & riot vocals
- Derek Sykes: guitars, riot vocals
- James Reilly : guitars, riot vocals
- Vinny Daze: drums, riot vocals
- Tracklist
- 01. Skull fracturing nightmare
- 02. Human dissection
- 03. Pyroclastic annihilation
- 04. Envenomend
- 05. Carnivorous obsession
- 06. Orgy of destruction
- 07. Epidemic of violence
- 08. Omnivore
- 09. Aborticide
