Review Summary: If Neanderthals had discovered metal…
…they would almost certainly have recorded something akin to this: a guttural, primitive, instinctual album built on the rock solid foundation of a death-metal-meets-thrash fusion. This Finnish quintet absolutely take advantage of their sub-twenty-minute EP, shredding and crashing their way through with all the grace and subtlety of a stampeding mammoth. The album itself is scarcely a mouthful in size, yet
More Victims satisfies the listener like a three course meal, not simply due to the raw and meaty riffs, but also thanks in part to the suitably choppy production. Every distorted power chord, each crash of the symbols, even the incredible vocal howling, all of it is smothered in the veiled haze of low quality production – a style which is usually reserved for basement black metal albums, but comfortably finds its home in the caveman-esque bone rattling of Violent Hammer.
By far the most archaic and savage element of the band's sound is the throaty growling and airy howls from the frontman. Forget unintelligible, his exclamations are downright animal. Greeting you after a short, heavily distorted intro from the guitarists, the vocals immediately dispel any possible confusion over why the band describe themselves as “PRIMITIVE DEATH METAL HAMMERING”. Underneath, the drummer beats his kit with what is almost assuredly the bones of his enemies, punctuating the faux-melodic guitar lines with his frenzied double bass assault. When things slow down a little on ‘Army of the Damned’ and the tail end of closer ‘Life After Nuclear Genocide’, he and the guitarist are left to wallow in a sludgy groove. The breakneck pace of the dual-guitar riffing is what lends this album the weight behind its punch, and both guitarists adopt a style that can only be described as pre-old-school death metal. In addition, the ever present bass ominously bubbles just below the surface, ready to ensnare the listener and drag them in like the gaseous sludge of a tar pit. His presence is constant throughout
More Victims, lending the low end a chunky rattle, while oozing his rumbling lines into the gaps.
What's most exciting about this album is the unapologetic manner in which Violent Hammer pummel the listener. While the band never let up with their wild brutality, there's plenty of instrumental variety, rhythmic changes and little nuances to keep you interested. Perhaps more dynamics on the vocal front could improve the album, and it might benefit from some more dramatic hooks too. A few concepts could have also been sustained for a longer duration, as a few don't stick around long enough to gain the traction they need. On the whole, though, Violent Hammer do what they do extremely well. If you're ever after an album that will hold you down and club you to death, you know where to find it,
and it knows where to find you.
