Demolition Hammer's violent and destructive debut and sophomore albums "Tortured Existence" and "Epidemic of Violence" are now available for pre-order on cassette tape.
Limited to 250 copies each. Officially licensed by Century Media.
First US tape pressing since the 90's.
Demolition Hammer has always had a really strong discography, albeit a short one. Taking thrash metal to a new extreme, their 1990 debut album Tortured Existence absolutely murders the competition. While Epidemic Of Violence is widely regarded as the band's masterpiece, and Time Bomb is still a fun listen despite all its flaws and groove metal leanings, Tortured Existence remains the band's best record.
To start off, the mixing on this album is absolutely fantastic. The vocals come in so clear, and loud enough to just sit at the top of the mix without unbalancing everything, and the gang vocals are similarly balanced well. The guitars have this old-school death metal tone to them, which totally fits for the aggressive, morbid sound this album so masterfully executes. The bass is nice and loud in the mix, something the following album totally abandoned, and the drums are just loud enough to cut through the guitars and keep the tempo without becoming overpowering. Despite what most say, the snare volume on this album is completely adequate, any louder and you get the problem that Epidemic Of Violence suffers from, with the drums totally overpowering the guitars and bass. All the elements together mix perfectly to provide an audio assault on your ears unparalleled.
Speaking of audio assault, the album has one of the strongest track lists I've ever seen in a thrash metal album. All 9 songs (I'm going to include the bonus track of Cataclysm in the ranking as well, as it's on the album on most streaming services) are extremely strong. Obviously, the first 2 tracks on the album are among their best songs, starting with the notorious .44 Caliber Brain Surgery, and then giving no rest to the listener by going straight into Neanderthal. Infectious Hospital Waste provides a highlight midway through the album, and Mercenary Aggression is a surprisingly stellar song at the end. The riffs are all so violent and vile, excellently transitioning from section to section. The drumming on this record is absolutely fantastic, unlike drumming on any other record. And the vocals perfectly fit the intense, morbid accompanying music, with the gang vocals perfectly providing some change through the course of the album. The one critique I have for this album is occasional recycling of past riffs. Several times through the album do you hear a riff eerily similar to the opening riff on the first track. But extreme music tends to recycle some extremely heavy riffs, and its only fair to get the same riff multiple times through that course of the album.
This album also has one of the best album covers I've ever seen. When you think of what imagery a band like Demolition Hammer contains, this album cover perfectly incapsulates it. The morbid burning flesh on the face and hand, and scenery rife with fire and smoke capture the concept of a tortured existence perfectly.
It's hard to find a better album than this, every song destroys the listeners earlobes. The unparalleled energy, the violent frenzy it drives the reader to, and the top notch composition on each track make this album almost unbeatable. And after catching this band live at Hell's Heroes in 2024, where they played almost half of this album, the crowds there prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that this album is truly their masterpiece. I rate this album as a top 5 thrash metal album all time, and a top 10 metal album. Give this album a spin, you won't be disappointed.
Sample: youtube.com/watch?v=iFN9x6yE-iw&t=31s
