Demolition Hammer
Skull Fracturing Nightmare

The Demolition Hammer is a band from New York - initially a trio and, since 1988, a quartet - that, after a period corresponding roughly to two years (1986-1987) under the name Overlord, decided in 1987 to change their name and, the following year, release their first demo, titled Skull Fracturing Nightmare, composed of four songs.

The central musical element is essentially thrash metal, accompanied by a range of more or less varied influences, which do not radically alter the main principle. The first track, Downwind Death, presents hardcore punk influences - a genre undoubtedly known by the New York-based band - particularly evident in some guitar sections and in James Reilly's vocals (it's the only track where he sings), as well as certain elements connected with the early manifestations of death metal, although these latter traits are minor in the overall composition.
These are not, however, the only components accompanying the dominant musical aspect of Demolition Hammer; the second track, Corpse Content (Happy Death), stands out more from the rest of the demo for being marked by a speed metal corpus, in whose second part fragments that clearly evoke the first wave of black metal appear, with Bathory and Sarcófago being just two examples among various others. The third and fourth tracks, respectively Assault of the Hammer and Cataclysm, are pieces where the thrash metal character emerges more typically, particularly regarding Reilly's guitar riffs.

Despite having mentioned other influences, this demo by Demolition Hammer remains primarily within the comprehensive framework of thrash metal, although it is set apart from the average American bands of the same genre due to greater rawness and violence; the guitar sound (here one, starting from the second demo, two, and then back to one again for the Time Bomb album) is undoubtedly and deliberately - according to the sharp production - raw, as well as somber and, in a certain sense, detuned. Steve Reynolds' bass is clearly audible and adds presence to the sound canvas, just as Reynolds' voice is abrasive and growling, thus aligning with the typical custom for the more extreme thrash metal bands; it differs from Reilly's vocals in the first song, which follow a style more reminiscent of hardcore punk. Rhythmically, in the demo at hand, Demolition Hammer are not as fast as in subsequent releases (always with the exception of Time Bomb): the only truly rapid track is the last one, Cataclysm - the only one to be revisited in a more aggressive version in the first album -, where the tupa-tupa is decidedly noticeable, whereas in the first three songs, mid-tempos prevail, complemented by sporadic slowdowns.
In any case, here one begins to glimpse the direction followed by the band: in the following years, they would render their sonorities increasingly brutal and impetuous, already starting with the next demo in 1989, aided by the departure of drummer John Salerno and the arrival of Vincent Civitano, who surpassed the former in both violence and skill; in this shaping of thrash metal, which later became thrash/death metal, harshness and aggressiveness are accompanied by a certain articulation of musical scores, with the organic complement of sections that, although less linear - and in this demo merely sketched - never fall into pompous Byzantinisms and unnecessary complexities.

It seems significant to also comment on the lyrics. It should be noted that, by 1988, the main currents of metal's lyrical domains are composed, predominantly, of four types, somewhat bordering one another. The first type consists of lyrics that generally revolve around the hedonistic, including certain exaltations of an ideal of "freedom" - albeit in a lower sense, patchy and considered from aberrant, telluric and sub-telluric perspectives - of orgiastic and orgasmic sexuality, drug use and related effects, sometimes of a dreamlike profile (suggestions from the second lyrical category may be present), and other times crudely indulgent. This category partially borders the second type, which we conveniently define as "mystical-occult": there are lyrics primarily of an anti-Christian character, also, but not only, satanic and, conventionally, denominated as "occult." Sexuality returns, this time treated from distinct perspectives, with mystical and ritualistic connotations; horror themes, whether literary or cinematic, devastation, and death, approached from various perspectives, more than one case differing from the others, are not uncommon. A third type is constituted by those lyrics of "social character" - even here aberrant viewpoints are evident, typical of the inner disintegration of the era of kâlî yuga - clearly derived from hardcore punk, predominantly found in thrash metal. The fourth and final type, of the main ones briefly described here - as of 1988 -, consists of epic lyrics focused on war, in a metaphysically higher sense compared to the aforementioned cthonian and sub-personal "social" lyrics. Fantasy and more generally epic topics are also noted; in certain circumstances, faded hints, albeit now terminal, of uranium-solar metaphysics are observed.

Lyrically, Demolition Hammer can be framed within the second type, with a horror-tanatological connotation, where social critique pretensions remain confined exclusively to the first track.
From the second song on, the dominance is held by lyrics concerning death and devastation (the lyrics of Cataclysm deal with destruction following an environmental "disaster"), approached in a particular and mostly detached manner, with incursions into sadism, as if there were a demiurgic, semi-divine - or even divine - gaze directed from above to below; the use of a sophisticated vocabulary and a wide selection of English terms of an elevated register further highlight the aura of an aristocratic and imperious demeanor, conducted from an elevated, scornful, and mocking position. Not many bands come to mind that can be associated with such lyrical traits, as of 1988: the main name is, to some extent, that of Slayer (consider, for example, some compositions in the albums Hell Awaits and Reign in Blood).

Finally, we come to the judgment and preface what our position is. Metal, and the genres into which it is divided, whether in a pure state or in a state of mixture, have spaces to express their possibility, circumscribed to well-defined limits. The greatness of a band does not consist in going beyond these limits (remember, the awareness of the hierarchically ordered cosmos, the classical ideal of form and limit are quite clear and present characteristics in the essence of Aryan peoples, just think, among the various, of the Indo-Aryans, the Aryo-Iranians, the Hellenes, the Dorians, the Romans), because it is in going beyond them that one lands in chaotic mass, in the undifferentiated, in atomism, in promiscuity; true quality, instead, resides in eternalizing higher vibrations with creativity and personality, remaining precisely within the artistic limits that metal - as well as other genres - presents.

From these considerations, our judgment regarding the Skull Fracturing Nightmare demo by Demolition Hammer is absolutely positive, as the band has amply demonstrated its ability to combine compositional flair with hardness, in this case, shaping thrash metal - later thrash/death metal - in a brutal and violent sense on one hand, refined and without lapses in style, as well as articulated, on the other. For this reason, we award the work with the highest rating and recommend it to anyone who wishes to listen to it.

Lineup:

James Reilly - guitar, vocals
Steve Reynolds - bass, vocals
John Salerno - drums