We first heard Hellhammer back in the 1984 on the Metal Massacre V compilation. The album featured a bunch of cool stuff by Omen, Metal Church, Fates Warning and even an early, bone-splintering track from Voivod. But it was the staggering Motorhead-meets-Venom cacophony of Hellhammer's scabrous "Crucifixion" that had us transfixed.
The low, wobbly guitars, nausea-inducing string-bends and blasphemous vocals were like nothing we'd ever heard before and we immediately sought out the Swiss band's four-song EP, Apocalyptic Raids, which was also devastating, but disappointingly short, containing a mere four songs. Even more unfortunate, by the time it came out, the band had broken up and frontman Tom Gabriel Warrior and bassist had formed the new, more innovative and forward-thinking band Celtic Frost. But as influential as Frost were in the development of doom and and experimental metal, it's impossible to overlook the importance of Hellhammer in creating the nihilistic blueprint for black metal with their attitude, image and subject matter (click "read more" for a link to the podcast interview with Warrior).
Shortly after learning of Hellhammer's demise, we found out about the band's 1983 demos Triumph of Death and Satanic Rites, cassettes of which were traded throughout the heavy metal underground like baseball dog-eared cards. We were thrilled to hear over 20 additional Hellhammer songs, and although the initial recordings were raw and the bootlegged copies were even less sonically pristine, somehow the primitive quality complimented the rudimentary musicianship, making things sound the more savage and evil. Years later, with the advent of the Internet, 10th generation (or worse) copies of the same recordings became popular on firesharing services, prompting Warrior to exhume the master tapes and put them out as the double-CD Demon Entrails.
Headbangersblog recently placed a long-distance call to the bowels of Hell for a podcast interview with Hellhammer and Celtic Frost frontman Tom Gabriel Warrior to discuss: why he decided to finally release Hellhammer's demos on CD as Demon Entrails; the psychic and spiritual pain that birthed the band; the scathing reactions the group received during its existence; the ultimate influence they've had on bands ranging from Mayhem to Sepultura and the possibility of a Hellhammer reunion. We also chatted with Warrior about the inspiration behind Celtic Frost; the band's enormous accomplishments in the metal underground; their failed attempt at being a spandex-clad hair metal band on 1988's Cold Lake; the eventual breakup of Frost; their resurrection with 2006's colossal Monotheist; and the band's next studio album.
Click here for a direct MP3 download of the Headbangers Ball Blog interview with Hellhammer and Celtic Frost frontman, Tom Gabriel Warrior.
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