Hammer Fight “Profound and Profane” review (by Droll)

HAMMER FIGHT “Profound and Profane”
Napalm Records

“If you missed a great rock’n’roll…” No, not like this. “If you missed some mindblowing metal…” Not that. It was hard for me to start this review because the fourth from New-Jersey playing heavy, groovy and catchy songs, that can be called “rock’n’roll”, “metal” and whatever you want. One thing is for sure: Profound and Profane album will make anyone minimum tapping their foot and nodding their head. Cause it’s really good.

So, Hammer Fight. Exists from 2011, at 2013 their first album Chug of War was released. And now their sophomore full-length record Profound and Profane. Twelve songs, it seems, divided for two parts. The first part is that very “metal rock’n’roll”, groovy and catches you mind in a second. Literally from the first note of opening “Picking Up Change”, juicy and energetic guitar riffs with whiskey and beer impregnated vocals by Drew Murphy makes you headbang and want more of this. Well, there’s already published “Target Acquired” and “Good Times In Dark Ages” with “Gods of Rock’N’Roll”. By the way, this two songs are similar as twins, so maybe it wasn’t needed to put them together. Although, who cares? They are sounds great!

The second part of an album is more various. Here we got some blues elements in “Law and Broken” (there is some little nuance: vocals seems like strained at the beginning, and then turns back to its regular harsh style with a relief), oldschool thrash/death “West Side Story”, interesting “Cell Mates” with rapidly changing musical line and nearly power-metal instrumental “The Crate”. The guys are surprising not only by techniques, but also with genres variations.

Justin Spaeth’s work needs to highlight separately. It seems that he set himself the task to drum so that fans balls are burst and brains are blows. And he copes with this task perfectly. Guitarists Todd Stern and Dan Higgins work is also on the high level. Fast and heavy gutar riffs and great solos, e.g. at mentioned “Law and Broken”.

For resume: an album can’t be called “breakthrough”, but giving it its due, this is solid and powerful work, full of energy, that will stuck in a head for a long time. And I’m sure this guys are making a great show, which I will see with the first opportunity.

P.S. After Lemmy’s death many bands started to call their music “rock’n’roll”, no matter what they play. And it’s really shame for some of them, when these bands names are at the same sentence with Lemmy’s name. So I took very critically this part of press-release “Snotty like the Cancer Bats and Zeke, and a second later worshipping at Lemmy`s altar“. But with all my skepticism this album didn’t disappointed me in anything. Hammer Fight is worthy band who know it’s business and makes it great.

(c) Droll (www.dailymetal.com.ua)