The Burning Church

I remember seeing Lucifer's Hammer play the legion hall in Munith, Michigan. I wasn't too much into death metal at the time. To be fair, this was my first black metal concert. I loved their doomy riffs, echoing vocals, weird guitar solos and atmosphere created by dry ice. I decided to buy their newest product, "The Burning Church" Demo.

At first, I wasn't sold on the lo-fi quality. I had to turn up my Pioneer system to half-way just to hear everything. I don't think I truly understood the album until I smoked a joint. Then the atmosphere came in. First it was the nocturnal sounds, the wind, the bells that accosted my ear lobes. Then the group launched into "The Entrance to Gehennah." This song bashes and leaves all pretender black metal groups (not many in 1994) buried by time and dust. Flames end the song and synth (by Reverand Dark I believe) chimes in before taking off on the title track with careening guitar solo and a "yeaaaah" that is totally bestial. Again, the drums hammer. There are sound clips that add to the ghoulish atmosphere, as there are throughout the demo.

"Eternally Doomed" lives up to its name. This song is where the band really incorporates their blackened aspects. Around this time, the group were interviewed and they talked about their love of My Dying Bride. The synth over washes the mix when the down beat comes. Churning grooves rule supreme. "Mourning Creation's Ruined" is another song with prevalent doom themes. Again, there are amazing synth passages including a haunting, gothic organ at the end. Keys became much more prevalent on latter Hammer albums. This was a great start to preview their upcoming full-lengths.

"The Burning Church" is a classic American black metal album. Sure, it incorporates death metal and doom metal, but at the end of the day, this is a black metal album every bit as good as anything released in Norway in 1994.