DEATHHAMMER — Electric Warfare (review)

DEATHHAMMER — Electric Warfare album cover

Album · 2022 · Thrash Metal

4/5 · 2022-03-02
siLLy puPPy

As much as metal has expanded its tentacles across the world and sucking up any possible musical sounds and incorporating them into it chimeric monstrosity, there’s always room for the good old fashioned battle anthem sort of metal that just screams kill, kill, kill! Highly influenced by the classic thrash metal, speed metal and first wave of black metal that terrorized the 1980s, Norway’s DEATHHAMMER has been raging on for well over a decade and a half and despite the trials and tribulations of unleashing its battle calls far and wide has finally returned in 2022 with ELECTRIC WARFARE, four years after its last release “Chained To Hell.”

Yes indeed DEATHHAMMER resides in that primeval extreme metal magma when the unified forces of modern metal were still lashing out to find their own form of aural terrorism. While most modern metal bands are looking to the stars for inspiration at this point in the 21st century, DEATHHAMMER seems content keeping those golden years of 80s metal alive with the ferocity of Teutonic thrash metal pioneers Kreator, the speed metal finesse of early early Slayer and Running Wild with a pinch of black metal ingredients from the likes of early Venom.

While the band’s last album seemed to be going soft and leaving the battle n behind for a little downtime from the killing fields, DEATHHAMMER’s bloodlust has returned in full speed thrash metal fury on ELECTRIC WARFARE and in retrospect these Norwegians weren’t resting at all but merely strategizing to ensure a heavy metal victory! Hard to believe this band is nothing but two brash dudes hell bent for leather to unleash their 80s fantasies like few others in the modern era. Guitarist / bassist / vocalist Sergeant Salsten captures that perfect 80s thrash metal groove with galloping guitar riffs and bass bravado while drummer Sadomancer unleashes his fury like a pro. The speed is ramped up on ELECTRIC WARFARE sounding as if the band has been channeling its inner Sadus.

This is truly the kind of metal that you don’t realize that you really miss until you hear a competent band take you back through the wayback machine back to the 80s when this style of blackened thrash metal was all the rage. Certainly nothing revolutionary here except bringing the Teutonic battle fields into the modern studio and crafting a fully sound spectrum without sacrificing the ferocity of full out war. This is one of those albums that never lets up for a moment with a consistent rapid-fire delivery of ferocious blackened speed thrash attacks and all the better for it. True this is retro in every possible way but it’s cool to know that a modern band is keeping the flame burning for this classic stylistic approach of metal music and nobody in the modern day is as competent and engaging as DEATHHAMMER.

There’s really nothing not to like about ELECTRIC WARFARE. It delivers all the goodies of classic thrash metal and beyond. Obstreperous uproars of thundering guitar riffs and sizzling solos, distinct bass lines that banter the very core of your soul and maniac drumming that emphasizes the procession in a step by step march into blood splattering battle zone! Perhaps the one aspect i could possibly take issue with is the moments when the vocals sound a little goofy with those hilarious high pitched wails emerging from the growls reminding me a bit of Exodus’ first singer Paul Baloff. Yeah, that clown effect but these are rare and not really distracting from the main purpose of the album’s anti-religious tirade. Overall this is a super solid example of a band living up to its potential even while staunchly residing in another period of history.