Deathhammer - Onward to the Pits [2012]

My indifference for modern thrash albums with spiffy clean, perfect production jobs is inversely proportional to my love for those records transparently seeking the archaic, occult overtones of the classic 80s sound, which is why I just love it when a band like Deathhammer drops a bomb like Onward to the Pits. This is nothing short of an exceptional recreation of an essence thought to have perished years ago. It's an album that sticks to its influences with uncompromising loyalty without directly copying or plagiarizing from the cherished source material. For the appropriate time allotted, one is submerged into hell and subjected to the punishing power and tormented shrieks therein. Nothing is particularly evolutionary or innovative about it, but it thrives in its unpolished, martial niche.

Without any exaggeration, Onward to the Pits could have dropped in 1986 to zero suspicion in regards to both the production and musical direction. Some may find issue with such a notion, but I could hardly have been more pleased. It's raw, pissed off, and fast, with little deviation wanted or needed. The riffs blaze with a certain rowdiness, going off the rails with unrestrained force and speed. It all comes together like the middle ground between Metallica's debut Kill 'Em All and Kreator's early bestial works. The over the top vocal performance  of Sergeant Salsten reflects the barbaric wrath of the music perfectly. One minute he's growling and shouting in first wave black metal fashion, and the next he's launching into insanely high pitched, ear-splitting cries, a style comparable to the anomalously popular Vektor.

All in all, Deathhammer's latest is a highly enjoyable time capsule for those longing to return to the days of thrash metal's golden age. There simply aren't enough albums of this style being released anymore. If I have one reservation with Onward to the Pits, it's that the consistent level of haste and dynamics doesn't allow for many distinguishable highlights. It all sort of runs--no, blitzes--together as one trampling entity. In any event, this record's strengths greatly outweigh its weaknesses, and it offers no choice but to succumb to its militaristic charms. The most comparable recent release I can think to compare it to is Antichrist's 2011 old school masterpiece Forbidden World, which, in a similar but greater ilk, marched onward to the seventh circle of hell and conquered it with ease. However, with this two piece following Asphyx's album of the same name as the second Deathhammer of worth this year, the pits definitely have a new king.

   Overall: 7.75/10 (Good - pray to your feeble savior)