### Bloody Hammers: Bloody hammers

#### 17/01/13 || Ironpants

I got 99 problems and a witch ain´t one…

a) A cover with nekkid chick wearing a goat mask. b) A colour scheme reminding you of Black Sabbath´s ”Master of reality”.

The band logo even have the same twist when written on the cover as above mentioned album.

So, sit down for a dark, hot meal of occult rock children.

When I started to listen to the first track ”Witch of Endor” I spontaneously puked in my mouth because of the guitar sound. It´s fucking awful. The distortion is fuzzier than Michael Jackson´s preteen hair. The drum sound is also crap, the snare sounds like an old tin box and the sad thing is that I suspect it to be an electronic or extremely triggered kit? They could of used any sampled sound they want, but not this one. If you play retro hardrock, at least go through some effort to make it sound good and vintage.

But then when the singing starts, I choked on my own vomit. The vocals are… mesmerizing, in lack of a better word and I was surprised with how clear and melodic his voice is. I´m not really sure how I expected it to sound like, but I sure as hell didn´t expected it to sound like this?

I am a bit shattered… I hate the production and it sounds like crap… really. Naked and simplistic with bad overdistorted sounding guitar and almost no bass at all to be heard.

But what about the songs then?

It is actually quite good stuff presented in this department, Bloody Hammers proves themselves in the songwriting. They deliver songs with riffs that is somewhat decent and I find myself stomping my foot to almost every song. Although repetitive and quite simple, it is catchy as hell and almost hypnotic. I have also caught myself humming some of the songs when doing shit like walking the dog or cleaning up the kitchen… or wait… I mean while preparing offerings for a black mass and fermenting blood for a warlocks potion. ´Cause it´s all about the witchery here. ”Black magic”, ”The witching hour”, ”The witch of Endor”… etc.

But, in the end… I´m a bit… disappointed. Why did they spoil what have could been a very good album with a crappy production and somewhat cheesy theme? You don´t get the feeling that they actually are ”into it”, almost as if it´s forced upon them? Could it be the retro trend that is currently ruling the hardrock scene that conjured this album?

Sad face.

- Information
- Released: 2012
- Label: Soulseller Records
- Website: www.bloodyhammers.com
- Band
- Anders Manga: vocals, bass
- Zoltan: guitars
- Devallia: organ
- Curse: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Witch of Endor
- 02. Fear no evil
- 03. The last legion of sorrow
- 04. Say goodbye to the sun
- 05. The witching hour
- 06. Black magic
- 07. Trisect
- 08. Beyond the door
- 09. Souls on fire
- 10. Don´t breathe a word