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VIOLENT HAMMER (fi) - Riders of the Wasteland - LP
Hailing from the ever-fertile Finnish black/death underground, VIOLENT HAMMER formed in 2006. Two demos followed in short succession, in 2006 and 2007, before the band would go on hiatus. VIOLENT HAMMER would at last return in early 2014 with a new lineup and a new demo, More Victims - Demo 2014, which SHADOW KINGDOM would release on cassette later that year. Then, another hiatus...
However rough 'n' rowdy those earlier demos may have been, the reinvigorated VIOLENT HAMMER return with a full-length that handily trounces those not-inconsiderable predecessors. Aptly titled Riders of the Wasteland, VIOLENT HAMMER's debut album encompasses their simple yet scintillating aesthetic - the full span of death metal and black metal from the '80s through early '90s, early thrash, and most significantly early grindcore and UK/Swedish hardcore and crust from the '80s - and blasts it into oblivion with the aplomb of a nuclear fallout. Unremittingly hammering and remorselessly primitive, each of the nine barbaric slabs of song across the album's satisfyingly swift 26 minutes gets in, gets out, and fucking DESTROYS. As such, Riders of the Wasteland is deceptively catchy, much like so much '80s grindcore was, and retains a twisted sense of fun within its gnarled 'n' gnarling sonics. And although VIOLENT HAMMER here invoke many names - from early Blood, Profanatica, Bestial Summoning, and Naked Whipper to likewise early Doom (UK), Extreme Noise Terror, Mob 47, and even earliest/crustiest Bolt Thrower and Napalm Death - the manner in which they slice and dice all these influences bespeaks an identity wholly unique in today's underground landscape.
Strap in with VIOLENT HAMMER's Riders of the Wasteland or get smashed in the fucking face!