Time Signature Blasphemy...

Genre: raw thrash

There is no shortage of evil alliances in the form of splits featuring extreme metal bands. "When the Hammer Strikes... the Exterminator Arrives" is one such release which features Norwegian black thrashers Deathhammer and Spanish black thrashers Körgull the Exterminator, both of whom contribute two tracks.

The two Deathhammer tracks are raw and primitive, and aggressive as hell and have an almost live sound to them as if they were recorded in the band's rehearsal space or at a live gig with a very quiet audience. The vocals are aggressive and reminiscent of early German thrash metal as is the music to some extent, although there seems to be some crossover influence, too, especially in some of the riffage in the aptly titled 'Deadbangerz', which features some elements that are more along the lines of hardcore punk.

While the music is primitive and the production raw, it is also extremely aggressive and I like the raw and primitive energy that the two tracks eradiate. In this respect, the raw production fits the music perfectly.

Fans of Hellhammer and early Celtic Frost as well as fans of Toxic Holocaust, The Metaphor and similar raw and primitive black thrash acts should definitely check out this split - but hurry up, it is only available in 500 copies.

UMUR "When the Hammer Strikes......The Exterminator Arrives!!!" is a split single release by Norwegian thrash metal act Deathhammer and Spanish blackened thrash metal act Körgull the Exterminator. The split was released in October 2011 by Duplicate Records. It´s limited to 500 copies on black 7" vinyl in foldout cover.

The split features two tracks by Deathhammer and two tracks by Körgull the Exterminator distributed over 12:56 minutes of playing time and if you hadn´t smelled the rat after looking at the cover artwork it´ll become obvious right of the bat, that we´re dealing with a filthy, raw and old school thrash metal release when listening to the music. The two Deathhammer tracks sound like they were recorded in a rehearsal room. Lo-fi sound quality and filthy, raw and simple old school thrash metal is what you´ll be exposed to. The sound quality is slightly more professional on the two tracks by Körgull the Exterminator but we´re still in raw demo quality territory. Compared to the Deathhammer tracks the two tracks by Körgull the Exterminator take on a more blackened tone. The music is still old school thrash metal at it´s core though.

We´re not exactly talking brilliant musicianship or especially clever or original compositions, but there´s no denying that the savage delivery and passionate performance make up for some of that. I found myself enjoying this quite a bit and I think a 3 star rating is fair.