Warhammer
The Winter Of Our Discontent
[Voice]
If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then old Tom Warrior
must be basking in an egobath right about now...The Tribute To Celtic
Frost release on Dwell Records, Usurper's complete mimicking of the
traditional (pre "Into The Pandemonium" era) Frost sound, and now
Warhammer doing their best to reviving the glorious primitivism that
was Hellhammer. Yes sir, Tom must surely be feeling good about all
this (too bad he can't return the favour and give us a new project
worthy of the respect he commanded in the past)...
There have been a lot of bands that have shown influences from the mighty Hellhammer (Countess and Carpathian Forest both come to mind), but none have gone as far as Warhammer - even the cover is an overture to the original artwork on the "Apocalyptic Raids" EP (not the abortion they used for the re-release mind you)...so even before slapping on the CD, I had a fairly good idea of what to expect...and I was NOT disappointed.
Hellhammer worship - glorious unashamed unabashed complete and utter Hellhammer worship. Not only have they managed to imitate the Hellhammer style of song writing, they almost completely replicate the actual sound/ambiance of the Apocalyptic Raids EP - the guitar tone, the drum sound, everything - the only real discrepancy is that Volker Frerich vocals are a little more developed than Warrior's - the actual phrasing of words and whatnot are Hellhammer, but his voice veers a little towards the 1st Frost EP (this is hardly a criticism, more of an observation).
I won't bother to describe the Warhammer (aka Hellhammer) sound any further - if you don't already know what Hellhammer sounded like, you should be hanging your head in shame (and walking to your nearest record shop to correct this situation immediately, lest the rest of us taunt you as you so richly deserve). For those of us who love Hellhammer, this is a complete must - this has everything, from the primitive thrashers of the early demos, to the final depression soaked EP release (there's even a "Triumph of Death" soundalike - "Devastation of Silent Resistance"...and the opener "Beyond Forgiveness" bears more than just a passing resemblance to "Crucifixion"). Warhammer : the best of the clone bands yet...
© 1999 chorazaim
There have been a lot of bands that have shown influences from the mighty Hellhammer (Countess and Carpathian Forest both come to mind), but none have gone as far as Warhammer - even the cover is an overture to the original artwork on the "Apocalyptic Raids" EP (not the abortion they used for the re-release mind you)...so even before slapping on the CD, I had a fairly good idea of what to expect...and I was NOT disappointed.
Hellhammer worship - glorious unashamed unabashed complete and utter Hellhammer worship. Not only have they managed to imitate the Hellhammer style of song writing, they almost completely replicate the actual sound/ambiance of the Apocalyptic Raids EP - the guitar tone, the drum sound, everything - the only real discrepancy is that Volker Frerich vocals are a little more developed than Warrior's - the actual phrasing of words and whatnot are Hellhammer, but his voice veers a little towards the 1st Frost EP (this is hardly a criticism, more of an observation).
I won't bother to describe the Warhammer (aka Hellhammer) sound any further - if you don't already know what Hellhammer sounded like, you should be hanging your head in shame (and walking to your nearest record shop to correct this situation immediately, lest the rest of us taunt you as you so richly deserve). For those of us who love Hellhammer, this is a complete must - this has everything, from the primitive thrashers of the early demos, to the final depression soaked EP release (there's even a "Triumph of Death" soundalike - "Devastation of Silent Resistance"...and the opener "Beyond Forgiveness" bears more than just a passing resemblance to "Crucifixion"). Warhammer : the best of the clone bands yet...
© 1999 chorazaim