Bloody Hammers have never been a band to stick to the same sound from album to album. Their initial brand of retro hard rock infused doom metal, coupled with dark lyrics, led them to be categorized as part of the occult rock boom. Since then, they’ve gone on to explore various facets of heavy metal and hard rock. And while not all of these explorations have been pleasing to my ear, I appreciate their creative tenacity. Today’s album in review is a case in point.
Songs of Unspeakable Terror couldn’t be a more appropriate name for Bloody Hammers’ sixth album. The terror that has been inflicted upon my eardrums can only be described as unspeakable. On this album, Bloody Hammers have settled for a hodgepodge of mediocre modern rock, sketchy pop punk, and unabashed Misfits worship. Now mind you, just because I’m not a fan of these styles doesn’t mean I’m biased against them. There have been various modern rock and metal albums over the years that have pleasantly taken me by surprise. Unfortunately, that’s not the case here.
For starters, the Misfits worship I’m referring to doesn’t tap the vein of the raw, dark, “Hybrid Moments” of the Danzig era, but rather the predictable, radio safe Michale Graves era. That’s strike one. The way “A Night to Remember”, “Witchfinder General”, and “We Are the Damned” limp around, I ask myself why I even do this. Then I remember it’s because of songs like “Night of the Witch” and “I Spit on your Corpse”. The two redeeming moments on this album; “Night of the Witch” has an irresistible gothic doom vibe to it, while “I Spit on Your Corpse” gets the horror punk sound right for once.
The rest of the album is a confused collection of songs that aren’t sure if they want to be true metal or Hot Topic tailored modern rock. Take “Hands of the Ripper” for example. There’s an attempt at Sabbathian riffage, but it gets overshadowed by generic production and song structure. Another one of these tracks is “Waking the Dead”. The whole 3 minutes I was listening to this song, I couldn’t help but think of a popular meme. “Mommy, can we have Danzig?” “We have Danzig at home.” This song is “Danzig at home”. In their defense, it’s better than anything Danzig has released in the last 25 years, but that’s not saying much.
I’m not sure where Bloody Hammers’ road will take them next. Wherever it leads, I hope it’s far away from whatever the hell this is supposed to be. What a bloody mess.
2 out of 10
Label: Napalm Records
Genre: Hard Rock
For fans of: Misfits, Danzig, Wednesday 13