Napalm Records
2014
1. The Town That Dreaded Sundown
2. Spearfinger
3. Death Does Us Part
4. The Moon-Eyed People
5. Second Coming
6. Welcome To The Horror Show
7. Under Satan's Sun
8. Dead Man's Shadow On The Wall
9. The Last Alarm
10. Necromancer
Under Satan's Sun is Blood Hammer's third album, but my first experience with them. I tend to watch the new albums coming out and give them a little preview if the general genre/style sounds like something I might be into and I liked what I heard from Bloody Hammers well enough. I've been digging some of the groovier doom/stoner metal lately and this fit the general bill so now it's time to give the full album a shot.
Listening to Under Satan's Sun it's a little difficult to pigeon hole Bloody Hammers into one particular style as I hear a lot of different elements. Their sound is definitely cohesive, but I hear everything from elements of creeping doom metal, to smooth gothic ambiance, to stoner metal fuzziness and groove, to subdued melodic passages. Nothing wrong with a unique fusion or an adventurous sound and I really dig what I hear on this release. Kind of like if you threw Hour Of 13, Kyuss, and The Bronx Casket Co. into a blender. This is dark, but quirky and fun at the same time like the audio equivalent of an old, vaguely cheesy horror movie. There have been a lot of these kind of occult rock/metal sort of bands springing up of late, but more than not I've been digging the trend and I don't think Bloody Hammers sounds precisely like any other I've heard. To the average traditional metal fan I can see where this might be a bit challenging and/or outside the box of the old school, but personally I find them refreshing. This is dark and atmospheric yet full of hooks and downright groovy while keeping a satisfactory level of heaviness.
Amusingly I didn't realize until I looked up the band members that I have actually heard and liked the vocalist Anders Manga before though in a different context. I remember I first heard and enjoyed his gothic/electronica stuff when I came across his cover of Mercyful Fate's Gypsy. Too funny for me and cool to hear him doing more with his obvious appreciation of metal. On Bloody Hammers he still sounds kind of gothic, but not as deep, cleaner, and with a little more edge which works well the music.
I've gotta say that I'm really digging this album. If you like dark, creeping metal and occult/horror themes than this is pretty damn enjoyable stuff. Don't expect high intensity, shredding traditional metal, but the atmospheres and grooves here are exceptional.
Highlights: Spearfinger, Under Satan's Sun, The Moon Eyed People, Dead Man's Shadow On The Wall
Rating - 4.0/5
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