Hellhammer "Satanic Rites" CD Bootleg

The word 'Hellhammer' can mean different things to different people. To some, Hellhammer is 'that drummer whose in loads of bands' to others, Hellhammer is an influential Swiss 'thrash' band whose vocalist and bassist went on to form Celtic Frost.
Hellhammer could probably be counted among the ‘first wave of black metal’, along with Bathory and Merciful Fate, but some of this clearly influences doom, (namely the tracks ‘Triumph of Death’ and ‘Buried and Forgotten’.
When this Swiss trio formed in 1982, with a strong Venom influence, but didn’t fall into the trap that Slayer did with Show No Mercy (not that it’s a bad album mind you), due to both Tom G. Warrior’s droning guitar sound, unique vocal style and generally appalling sound quality (due to their Death Fiend and Triumph Of Death demos being recorded in an old bunker). With Satanic Rites however, the band actually appeared to have recorded it in an actual studio as well as getting rid of the clanging, heavy bass that haunted the first two demos. This generally makes this demo an easier experience to listen to, though not actually ‘better'. This said, the production is hardly perfect, sometimes with the sound switching from speaker to speaker for no apparent reason
After a freaky intro, which is actually just the ending of the song ‘Triumph of Death’ played slowed down, opener ‘Messiah’ is a fast paced, destructive opener, as well as a highlight for the whole demo. The demo continues in this fashion for most of the demo, despite thirteen minutes of doom. Lyrically, Hellhammer stick to Venom-esque moments of Satanism, as well as lyrics the early Slayer, Mayhem et al would be proud to write:
“Satanic rites, satanic rites,
I love the screams of children
I love to see ‘em hang
They are so little and helpless
So I’ll do what I want”
Hardly easy listening, Satanic Rites will probably not amuse newcomers to metal, and might put off Dimmu and CoF fans. Not that they're necro enough to get it in the first place though.
All in all Satanic Rites is a headfucking, dusty blackened masterpiece, which has been made much easier to acquire, now that Tom G. Warrior has made peace with Hellhammer (as he once despised Hellhammer as much as the early 80s metal press did), and released the Satanic Rites, Triumph of Death and Death Fiend demos together.

Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...