Review: BLOODY HAMMERS “Lovely Sort of Death” (by Koen Oostendorp)

BLOODY HAMMERS “Lovely Sort of Death”
Napalm Records

2016 has been a stellar year for heavy music. Awesome records by Megadeth, Ihsahn and Periphery have been released so far. But on a personal note, and this will get me some hate, one of the records I was looking forward to the most failed miserably. I am talking about the new Roxette album. Which sucked. Brilliant lead single. Horrible record. And they were the last of my personal favourite bands to release something this year. Or so I thought. I had no idea that Bloody Hammers were preparing the release of their 4th album “LOVELY SORT OF DEATH”. Bloody Hammers is a band that first caught my attention back when they released their previous album, “UNDER SATAN’S SUN”. I was a big fan of that record and after having heard it multiple times, I started to dig a little deeper into their discography. I liked what I heard, not as much as “UNDER SATAN’S SUN”, but I did enjoy their first 2 albums. So when I found out they were going to release another record, I immediately got excited. I thought, if this is good it could nicely wash away the bad taste that the Roxette album left. I wanted it to be just as good as “UNDER SATAN’S SUN”.

So I turned to Youtube to check out the singles. They were very different than what Bloody Hammers showed us with their previous album. And did I ever loved it. Here you have a band that some would put in the generic stoner/doom metal category, and they dish out two of the best songs i’ve heard in a while and they transcended not only my expectations but also what I thought they could do. “THE REAPER COMES” is such a haunting, melodic piece of perfect melancholy and “BLOODLETTING ON THE KISS” is a strong contender for song of the year. What really set apart these songs for me, was the fact that it was more Nick Cave than Ghost or any other doom metal group.

The rest of the songs are all very strong. Some are strikingly memorable. Like “INFINITE GAZE TO THE SUN”. That song, even on the first listen, just gave me chills and the chorus stuck with me in a way that usually only Dave Mustaine’s writing does. “LIGHTS COME ALIVE” is also noteworthy, as it almost sounds like a much darker (and better, come fight me) U2. But somehow this song carries a certain sense of hope. Uniquely melodic and beautiful, this was one of my favourite tracks. I could go on about the individual songs for a while, but I don’t see the point of that. You’ll just have to listen to the record yourself.

Soundwise, this record doesn’t stray too much from the traditional Bloody Hammers sound. I was under the impression that there were more keyboards present in the mix this time around, and I thought the overall production was better than their previous records. Especially the drums sound much better than on thier older work. The sound matches the songs really well, and this is an organic and honest sounding record. Obviously, there are much more polished sounding records out there. But there is a certain charm to the sound on “LOVELY SORT OF DEATH” that can be matched by only a few.

Overall, this a a profoud, dark, interesting, engaging and ultimately deeply satisfying album by an underrated band. Very rarely does a band capture this kind of songwriting magic. It’s unpredictable, yet it isný distracting. Some of the chord progressions on this record are bone-chillingly brillaint and there isn’t a weak song on this.  I never thought there would be a year where Bloody Hammers would release my album of the year, but this time around I’m pretty sure that that honour will go to them.

Final verdict

Should you go and check it out? YES!