Labels: self released
Review by: Samuel Fowler
This record is bigger than something else I have by Hammers. I possess
a copy of the self titled 7″ and it is a very sensible record. It
sounds awesome, and it’s just the right size. You could carry it to
the shops, pop it in your rucksack, or even wear it round your neck on
a chain, like some sort of outsized medallion. As for this though, I’m
not sure what they’re playing at. I bought a copy at the release show,
and was on the verge of calling up one of my servants to help me carry
it. It’s a full 5″ bigger than the first record. Outlandish. What’s
next? At this level of inflation Is the next Hammers release going to
be about 25 inches wide? I’m not sure they’ve thought this through
carefully enough. They’ll need to Chinook the distro to gigs and set
up outside at this rate. And what if it’s windy or raining?
Anyway, I just about squeezed this onto my now-quite-inadequate
feeling record player. I instantly felt a spectral hand grab me by the
scruff of the neck, the room swam, and a guttering bellicose voice
rose around me and jeered. You see Hammers aren’t the sort of folk you
want to be playing at Melissa’s birthday party, they’re too busy
dealing in slightly crazed heavy hitting grumpy hardcore. Imagine if
you will, Tragedy in a tumbledrier.
Since that first 7″, they have gone from four to three, and it has
marked a slight change in their style, the d-beaty element is buried
deeper, the screamo twitches have gone, and have been replaced with
even more monolithic rumblings. The first time I saw Hammers, I was a
bit late, and could hear them from the car park of the venue. The
vocals are ferociously deep, tracks like “The Holy Mountain” (a rather
relevant title) crash around like a Mammoth stomping the shit out of a
bunch of trees. The record doesn’t let up from the Title Track all the
way through to “Tombs” at the end, Tombs to where I’m sure these
fearsome Viking Warriors returned to after this statement of intent.
This is a solid offering on the backs of previous efforts, and I look
forward to hearing more of the 10 releases they have scheduled for
this year, and catching them on some or more of the 31 shows they have
pencilled in for the next few months. Those numbers also aren’t
exaggerations..
Oh, and just make sure you don’t let them near any lego.