Hammercult - Steelcrusher

Published January 20 2014

*=Staff's pick	Hymn To The Steel (Intro) Steelcrusher Metal Rules Tonight Into Hell We Are The People* Burning The Road Ironbound* Unholy Art Satanic Lust Liar Damnation Arise Heading For War In The Name Of The Fallen*

Genre	Thrash Metal	Yakir Shochat	Vocals
Tracks	13	Arie Aranovich	Guitar
Running time	44 Min.	Guy Ben David	Guitar
Label	Sonic Attack/SPV	Elad Manor	Bass
Release	22 January 2014	Maayan Henik	Drums
Country	Israel	-	Keyboard
Producer	Chris "Zeuss" Harris
Similar artists	---

Hammercult's sophomore album, nearly two years past the release of Anthems Of The Damned. Steelcrusher primarily equals brutal, extreme and unbowed Israeli thrash metal that rips bodies to disfigurement. It's wild, rapacious and concentrated on massive attacks to crack concrete walls. It's not that exceedingly fast, but fast enough, rest assured.

They build the blasting impact on direct strength and an ability to create a fierce heavy-duty energy and I feel a little worked after I've inhaled this semi-modern frenetic atmosphere. With only two songs passing the four minute mark, there are almost no transitions to half-hearted parts during the band's ongoing struggle and they add fuel to the fire to keep the listener attentive all through.

It's not the vocals on Steelcrusher that stills my hunger, as I find them a little excessive occasionally. The actual music is also somewhat repetitive and it's a no-brainer that versatile variation is rather hard to localize during this explosive experience and it certainly also leaves limited space for tranquil moments. A few cool harmony guitar plays break the ice and back up a certain number of songs to make room for details in this near constant crushing assault.

I believe that this unit has an appearance that could storm its way through hell or high water to reach a higher position in today's thrash metal scene. They have seemingly already taken aim for the target, as this effort is genuinely nothing for the faint-hearted, since the band leaves no room for consideration.

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
6	6	7	5	7

Summary
7 chalices of 10 - Tobbe