Hammer Fight

About one year ago, the deadly duo of Ryan Ogle and Scott Alisoglu started fucking hammering my inbox as their appropriately-titled promo company: Clawhammer PR. Like many of you, I’ve been reading their Blabbermouth reviews for a while now, and was psyched that they push bands from labels we here lost touch with (Listenable, Frontiers), introduced new labels to our network (Dark Descent, Ibex Moon), and nobly got behind self-released artists (Deadfall, Enormicon). Last band they sent my way that kinda made me lose my shit was FUCKING BONES, and now another band that’s in the same vein has caught my attention: Hammer Fight. The first thing I wrote back was So were you dudes like “copyright infringement unless we promote you” or something? because look at this fucking logo love connection:

Anyway, so if you were in a hammer fight with these dudes and cracked their skull open, you’d see a load of Motörhead pouring out. In tempo and timbre, they’re a mighty close match, with a grimy modern production through fifteen blistering minutes of original tunes, plus a great updated cover of AC/DC‘s “If You Want Blood (You Got It)”. And like both those bands, the focus is mostly on hard rockin’ fun, but Hammer Fight uses both sides of their weaponry, and dig in just as much as they bludgeon. Case in point: centerpiece “Tears of Unfathomable Sadness”. Between memorable hooks, a badass chantable chorus, tasteful solos, and chunky low-end riffage, it’s a perfect showcase for their current apex. By far and away the longest track at 3:44, they otherwise keep it around two minutes or so, with brutal brevity. Hammer Fight plays like Mike Tyson fought circa 1988—both have every intention of knocking you out within three minutes. 4/5 - MindOverMetal.org

Not to be confused with the indie computer game of the same title, this Hammer Fight is instead a band of New Jersey devils running a sizable risk in their mash-up of styles. At the heart of this EP, you can clearly recognize a massive influence from punk, hardcore, rock and in particular the more bruising side of the NWOBHM spectrum made manifest by the might Motörhead. The vocals aren't quite so smokey as Lemmy, and the riffs are a bit more punch than blues, but it's hard not to envision something like "Down the Line" as other than a ticked off hybrid of newer, thrash driven Motörhead and Sick of It All, with perhaps a touch of Fear, and there ain't nothing wrong with that in my book.

Several of the songs definitely function on a more directly rock & roll axis, like "Disas-tour" and its wavy, bruising guitar boogie; or "If You Want Blood (You Got It)", which sounds like AC/DC if they went NYHC, complete with dense background shouts. Then there are others which are more distinctly infused with thrash, hardcore and punk reminiscent of Sheer Terror, Sick of It All, Slapshot, and so forth. Meaty guitar mutes dominate "Down the Line" or "Stuck in the Chamber", while the latter shows the band flexing its traditional metal lead chops. There are even a handful of more inspiring, melodic riffs that feel like a crude mesh of rock & melodic death metal, like "Tears of Unfathomable Sadness", which might just be the most emotional and effective among these seven songs. Hammer Fight keeps it short and sweet: they are well aware that their audience doesn't want more than a 3-4 minute rush of adrenaline.

As a result, even if I wasn't blown over by the material here, I have to admit that they do a good job of not wearing out their welcome. I mentioned earlier that this was a bit of a 'risky' sound they were reaching for, but that wasn't meant as a discouraging remark. Look at a band like Norway's Kvelertak, whose popularity has swollen performing a mix of rock & roll, spry punk energy and black metal vocals. Hammer Fight isn't quite the same sound, but they have a similar skill at fusing genres as if they had always been crops in the same garden. The production is punchy and honest, the riffs usually fun despite a death or nuance and invention, and it seems ready-made for moshing without any need for tons of stupid breakdowns. Not the sort of music you'd want to take to prom, perhaps, but more then sufficient to score your next wrestling meet.

Verdict: Win [7/10] - From the Dust Returned

Quick hitting 7 song EP from this New Jersey quartet. Rolling in equal parts hardcore and hard rock, songs like “Down The Line” and “Stuck In The Chamber” evoke Lemmy acidic verses with gang-like choruses, while the music just rumbles with that punk-infused speed and rawness that will kick in teeth and ask questions later. Closing with a spirited AC/DC cover “If You Want Blood (You Got It)”, it’s over in 18 minutes and change- delivering mucho bang for your bucks.

Motorhead, Sick Of It All, and early Iron Maiden coarse through the veins of these gentlemen. Nothing wrong with that in my eyes. - Eternal Terror Webzine

If there is one thing the new New Jersey formation Hammer Fight is right about, it is that their state’s scene is oversaturated with death metal and hardcore. It is if every self-respecting NJ man is full of macho attitude, angst, boiling over temper or all of the above combined. Whatever happened to the good ol’ having fun while playing music? Hammer Fight is apparently here to fill that void.

Focusing on the breakneck speed and playful approach, the band rips off a couple of raucous, noisy, energetic picker-uppers with Down the Line and Disas-Tour. Furious tempos, skuzzy unpolished production, the band just keeps rolling through their riffs, sounding a little bit stoner rock at times (Disas-Tour), but full of punky energy throughout. Hammer Fight will be a welcome addition in every NJ (and beyond) bar, but Rob Guidotti and Todd Stern show considerable guitar skills wailing through their out-of-control leads on Down the Line. Stuck in the Chamber is punkier and grindier still, but Hammer Fight employs no D-beat, and this is not hardcore punk. If anything, the best description for the EP is accelerated Motorhead with extended arpeggiated leads. Speedwolf from Denver comes close, but their recent Ride with Death veers significantly more towards thrash. Hammer Fight music is more rough’n’tough than brutal, the gruff vocals of bassist Drew Murphy fitting the style of the delivery. Tears of Unfathomable Sadness provides a cool break in action, showing that traditional heavy metal with its power mongering hungry chords is nor foreign to Hammer Fight. The true calling for the band, however, remains their speedy tunes. Tripping over itself School of Rock gets back to the speed the band craves and Get Wrecked would be another moshpit riser (the title says it all). Even ACDC cover If You Want Blood (You Got It) has much more detunage and distortion than the original, perfectly catching the party-till-the-end spirit.

An EP like Hammer Fight is a perfect antidote for someone feeling way too serious about him/herself. Subtle in terms of guitar playing aptitude, Hammer Fight provides an excellent respite when you simply feel like letting your inhibitions go, without pummeling and overproduced bottom end. Production is truly a very relative word for Hammer Fight, this sounds as if recorded in one take, which it probably wasn’t. The music preserves the live atmosphere of some 25 people-to-full-capacity venue, which is pretty much where Hammer Fight should feel like a fish in a bowl. Although, if the band desires (and deservedly so) to grow those audiences, local and otherwise touring is recommended and is undoubtedly in Hammer Fight plans.
- Metal Reviews.com

Hardcore seems to have a curse these days.

It seems like so many bands are focused on sounding like Entombed and using symbols from the occult that they probably don't have any idea what they mean. It's created a subgenre that needs to be abandoned and washed away.

When it first came around, it was cool but it's so commonplace that it's more annoying than not.

Sometimes there's a band that changes that around and they're considered leaders and not followers.

The band that has the potential to change that is Hammer Fight.

I don't really know a whole lot about them or where they're from but chances are that they'll steal your drink and fuck your girl, Lemmy style.

What you have here is 7 songs of nothing but high octane ass kicking themes for your next bar brawl.

They don't really rely on the core as much as some bands would. Aside from a few breakdowns that are placed tastefully, you're getting a full throttle march through the better days of Motorhead's discography. These songs are just that awesome.

My only complaint about this is that it's too short. Clocking in at under 20 minutes, you have to wonder if their imminent full length is going to cause motherfucking tremors on different continents.

I know I'm gloating over this release but it's rare to find a brand new band that is this good and has potential to get kids to stop thinking that they're fucking Aleister Crowley and focus more on the exquisiteness of KICKING ASS. - StereoKiller.com