While their later releases ‘’Exterminate’’
and ‘’The Inexorable’’ will prove to be more cunning and technically surpassing
albums, Angelcorpse’s debut album ‘’Hammer Of Gods’’ is not without flaws. The
third and second effort are closely related, both possessing a more lively edge
and a processed portion of Angelcorpse’s savage attitude, but although ‘’Hammer
of Gods’’ is just frenetic and just crazed with erupting blackened death metal
fury, it’s clear that it hasn’t fully been turned into a credible substance,
thus offering no more than pure demented aggression. Even so, the debut remains
as the most frantically driven and it beholds a strength that could reduce any
man into cinder within the blink of an eye, therefore ‘’Hammer Of Gods’’ stands
as Angelcorpse’s most barbaric incursion, although so of its blows may tend to
miss its target.
The overwhelming savagery has an obvious
reason here. The musicianship hasn’t properly developed, and therefore we’re
left with heaps of uncontrollable energy and callow riffs, enjoyable
nonetheless. ‘’Hammer Of Gods’’ big flaw is the lack of prowess, but it’s also
devoid of the spiking, sturdy guitar tone of ‘’Exterminate’’ (which augmented
even further on ‘’The Inexorable’’), leading us to fibrous riffs, dispersing
and scattering vigorously. Of course, the coarse jumble of tremolos and chords
are totally gut-splattering. ‘’Hammer Of Gods’’ will punch you with its iron
hammer again and again, and it will send a swirling vortex of chaos upon the
remainders of your pulverized body to distort even further. Every song is just
another strike of the hammer, numbing continuously, and your flesh will be all
but gobs of meat when the album ends.
If you want a tantalizing demonstration of
Angelcorpse’s early sound, look no further than this record. It’s accessible
compared to the band’s demo material but still raw, demented and drunk with
power. The drumming is simple, crude blast beats, while the vocals are
throatier than ever, and the production is also a futile one, raw and decrepit.
I can’t say that this is my favourite old school Angelcorpse record, but I
can’t say I dislike it either, because after all, there’s still stuff here that
would make your head jut up and down until snaps, and no matter how crude it is
compared to its peers, I can’t help but enjoy this berserk black/death album.
Highlights
''The Scapegoat''
''Lord Of The Funeral Pyre''
''Envenomed''
Final Rating
Awesome [8.4/10]
