Deathhammer are one of the best thrash bands out there. And I'm not just talking about the new crop either--they're one of the best thrash bands of ever. We recently reviewed their new record, Phantom Knights, and they're coming to London in like a week and a half to play Live Evil, as well as a warm-up show at Catch. Anyway, I caught up with Sadomancer, one half of the band, for a full interview. Actually, I sent him questions about two months ago and he only recently emailed me back--but it was worth waiting for.Vice: What bands are you excited about seeing at the Live Evil festival?
Sadomancer: I am dying to suffer a sonic metal overkill in front of Körgull The Exterminator, because they're probably my favorite new-ish underground band. Their Dogs of War album is pure metal in its essence. Ghost and Vulcano will also be very exciting.What should the people of London expect from your first shows here?
Expect nothing but total destruction! I've switched from drums to guitar because I got bored of playing them live, but Kick from Nekromantheon is going to destroy the drums. He's Norway's answer to Gene Hoglan, so it's gonna be even MORE violent than before! Prepare to be crushed under the hammer of death.Let's rewind a little. Where did the concept of Deathhammer come from?
The desire to play this music came from our pounding metal hearts. The concept of playing true metal comes from within and should not come from anywhere else. This is our calling.Or did you decide to start the band because of the influx of bad thrash bands flooding the scene?
We started the band in 2005 because we had some songs that we thought were good enough to release. I was only 15 years old, so we hadn't heard that many other new underground thrash acts at the time and we just wanted to play like Celtic Frost and Kreator. We noticed that some Norwegian bands were splitting up once they realized that playing thrash wasn't the cool thing to do anymore. Those trendy bands should never pester the scene in the first place, so it's sad that they got to release demos and play gigs, but what can you do (except for wait and see who stands when the smoke clears). I didn't hear about bands like Municipal Waste until a couple of years ago and I don't care about them at all. I like my thrash to be about violence and destruction, not Turtles and toxic baseball hats.I know this is the most cliche question ever, but your sound is very unique and I'm wondering where it comes from--what's your inspiration?
Our inspiration comes from living a life of severe intoxication, listening to metal and banging our skulls, obscure voids, the Japanese black metal gods Sabbat, movies like The Beyond, and everything evil and morbid. The most important songs for Deathhammer's sound are probably "Total Disaster" by Destruction, "Tormentor" and "Bonebreaker" by Kreator and Bathory's "Sacrifice." The Bathory feeling is the holiest of all.What are your thoughts on the current music scene, metal and otherwise?
There will always be good stuff if you have enough interest to search and dig deeper, but I'm not finished with searching the 70s and 80s yet, and that's my main concern for now. Darkthrone and Burzum released the best metal albums this year, and I'm also expecting the new Körgull album to destroy everything. I don't follow any music scene except for the metal scene, but I just heard the new Lady Gaga single and I have to say, it's pretty good.Listen: Deathhammer, "Cold Winds of Death" [audio:http://viceland-assets-cdn.vice.com/music/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/07-cold-winds-of-death.mp3]
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Sadomancer: I am dying to suffer a sonic metal overkill in front of Körgull The Exterminator, because they're probably my favorite new-ish underground band. Their Dogs of War album is pure metal in its essence. Ghost and Vulcano will also be very exciting.What should the people of London expect from your first shows here?
Expect nothing but total destruction! I've switched from drums to guitar because I got bored of playing them live, but Kick from Nekromantheon is going to destroy the drums. He's Norway's answer to Gene Hoglan, so it's gonna be even MORE violent than before! Prepare to be crushed under the hammer of death.Let's rewind a little. Where did the concept of Deathhammer come from?
The desire to play this music came from our pounding metal hearts. The concept of playing true metal comes from within and should not come from anywhere else. This is our calling.Or did you decide to start the band because of the influx of bad thrash bands flooding the scene?
We started the band in 2005 because we had some songs that we thought were good enough to release. I was only 15 years old, so we hadn't heard that many other new underground thrash acts at the time and we just wanted to play like Celtic Frost and Kreator. We noticed that some Norwegian bands were splitting up once they realized that playing thrash wasn't the cool thing to do anymore. Those trendy bands should never pester the scene in the first place, so it's sad that they got to release demos and play gigs, but what can you do (except for wait and see who stands when the smoke clears). I didn't hear about bands like Municipal Waste until a couple of years ago and I don't care about them at all. I like my thrash to be about violence and destruction, not Turtles and toxic baseball hats.I know this is the most cliche question ever, but your sound is very unique and I'm wondering where it comes from--what's your inspiration?
Our inspiration comes from living a life of severe intoxication, listening to metal and banging our skulls, obscure voids, the Japanese black metal gods Sabbat, movies like The Beyond, and everything evil and morbid. The most important songs for Deathhammer's sound are probably "Total Disaster" by Destruction, "Tormentor" and "Bonebreaker" by Kreator and Bathory's "Sacrifice." The Bathory feeling is the holiest of all.What are your thoughts on the current music scene, metal and otherwise?
There will always be good stuff if you have enough interest to search and dig deeper, but I'm not finished with searching the 70s and 80s yet, and that's my main concern for now. Darkthrone and Burzum released the best metal albums this year, and I'm also expecting the new Körgull album to destroy everything. I don't follow any music scene except for the metal scene, but I just heard the new Lady Gaga single and I have to say, it's pretty good.Listen: Deathhammer, "Cold Winds of Death" [audio:http://viceland-assets-cdn.vice.com/music/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/07-cold-winds-of-death.mp3]
