I missed out on Bastard Priest‘s richly touted subterranean cassette demo, Merciless Insane Death. Those in the know who managed to grab a slice were treated to 15-minutes of ruddy Swedeath that’s undoubtedly been Swedone to death over the years. But what the duo lacks in pure originality is made up for by their sheer capacity to simplistically and persistently hammerstrike-strike-strike to the face with a rude turbulence. Under the Hammer of Destruction collects some newer and re-recorded material and tacks the elusive demo to the bottom end, bringing the grand total allotment to a touch over 30-minutes of good ol’ fashioned Svenska browbeating.
The band’s press bio proclaims “a combination of bizarre hardcore, punk and death metal bliss,” which I’d say is on point, aside from the “bizarre” tag, but really it’s just a logical extension of exactly what was pouring out of Sweden’s extreme metal scene in the late 80’s: demos from Nihilist (especially in those reverb’d vocals), Grave, Dismember and the like by way of Mefisto, Merciless and Morbid whipped in a blender with a heavier infusion of Asocial/Anti Cimex punk and just generally d-beating your face into the curb. It ain’t rocket science, folks. And while I’d say the band’s newer material is strong, Under the Hammer of Destruction‘s strongest moments hit with the slightly rawer output of the original demo material — something I attribute mostly to that selections’ cruder, snappier drum sound.
So, if scolding Swedeath is the type of thing that really kindles your nether-regions and you’ve already devoured everything covered in Daniel Ekeroth’s biblical Swedish Death Metal, I’d say Bastard Priest is a very logical next step. Under the Hammer of Destruction ain’t exactly the most original thing you’ll hear this year, but it’ll add an extra dose of callow punkishness to the shelf that already holds relatively recent releases from the likes of Entrails, Interment and Repugnant.