Perversión

Corpsehammer is a Chilean/Swedish black/death/thrash metal band that plays in the style of the forefathers of these sub-genres. Elements of hellhammer, bathory, venom, mayhem and Celtic Frost are infused with elements from Archgoat, beherit and the Conqueror in a sadistic blend of apocalyptic extreme metal. When it comes to Scandinavia and Latin America, you can rarely ever go wrong when it comes to creating bellicose and ferocious black metal, the sort of music that is on full display on this relatively short extended play.

There is a definite d-beat/crust vibe to the overall release, however, this influence is never allowed to get into the way of the more extreme elements. The vocal style of this band's singer is so damn awesome and unique. His voice emits an aura of crusty disgust with the world and each word he screams, shouts, grunts or growls is encapsulated with immeasurable vitriol. The guitar work on this extended play is restricted to your typical war metal ideas such as down-tuned tremolo-picked chord-progressions and the occasional more technical thrash-inspired riffs to keep things interesting. The bass guitar is audible throughout most of the extended play, however, you need to pay close attention because it does have the tendency of getting drowned out by the other instruments and the oppressively high vocals.

The driving-force behind this extended play is definitely the whole "FUCK OFF AND DIE" attitude of this band. A lot of bands who try to mix hardcore punk and extreme metal, usually either fail completely, show a very shallow understanding of the former genre, or create amazing music like the kind that is present on this release. The influence that hardcore punk lends to this entire release can be felt in the drumming patterns, sudden changes in atmosphere and the way the vocalist carries himself throughout its entire duration.

Unfortunately, this release is very short and one of the main let-downs with this release is that I was left yearning for more. I think that this extended play could have actually become an entire full-length release because it surely does have the musical pedigree. If only this release had a couple more tracks, then maybe my thirst would have been majestically satisfied. I recommend this release to anyone who is into the dirtier sounding pits of extreme metal.

Though Corpsehammer are based in Dalarna, Sweden the band includes members from Chile and Sweden alike. Formed as a union between Omnizide drummer Gaddur and fellow old school black metal fanatics Corpsehammer are exacting in their simple ethos that takes one extra step back into the first waves of black and death metal and exhales a deep lung’s worth of Hellhammer-sized speed metallic black/death. Too primitive to be compared to Craft but too streamlined to fully reference Sarcófago, the band’s third EP occasionally resembles a more black metal oriented version of Pentagram‘s second demo from 1987. By and large from the first track “Reino – Sangre del Diablo” you should instantly recognize that “Messiah” style riff and understand what the band is aiming for.

Beyond that opening track, which is quite strong, the riffing is maybe more on target with Communion or a similar black/thrash band, at least rather than something like Apocalyptic Raids. I don’t want to overstate the Hellhammer influences too much but those are the most obvious references in the guitar work. I’d feel comfortable pointing towards Poison and Necrovore as reasonably similar approaches but obviously the sound here on this EP in 2018 is far clearer than either 1986 dungeon tape band. It is 11 minutes of old school black/death metal music and doesn’t really warrant a thousand words of banter as each of the band’s EPs offers a similarly quick and effective stab at their old school sound. Standout track for me is easily “Rito & Magia” as I love the ’85 speed metal feeling of it. Great place to start with this band’s sound but I’d recommend their second EP ‘Posesión’ as my favorite so far.

Attribution: https://grizzlybutts.com/2018/04/30/corpsehammer-perversion-2018-review/