Deathhammer – Electric Warfare Review

It is mere illusion and pretty sentiment to expect much from mankind if he forgets how to make war. And yet no means are known which call so much into action as a great war, that rough energy born of the camp, that deep impersonality born of hatred, that conscience born of murder and cold-bloodedness, that fervor born of effort of the annihilation of the enemy, that proud indifference to loss, to one’s own existence, to that of one’s fellows, to that earthquake-like soul-shaking that a people needs when it is losing its vitality. – Friedrich Nietzsche

Make war, indeed. Norway’s Deathhammer likely need little in the way of introduction–they’ve been been mercilessly leading their way through the trenches since 2005. The band’s call to war centers around the sweetest spot of the eighties, a moment from whence speed, thrash, early death, and early black metal were as one–a time when themes of war, evil, power, and death were all cloaked beneath a banner of iron. Deathhammer strikes on the birthing point of extremity, the peak of conflict between melody and chaotic frenzy. No matter how organized and disciplined the troops, all out war inevitably leads to chaos. With Deathhammer, the structure and organization of their music mirror the intensity of war–an attempt to channel animalistic, fight-or-die hysteria, and funnel it into delectable morsels of metal.

Electric Warfare is an apt title for the band’s fifth album. While their prior effort, 2018’s Chained To Hell was a ripper in its own right, it did feel like Deathhammer’s aggression was beginning to relax ever so slightly into a comfortable formula. It didn’t feel like they were pushing themselves to their limit the way their prior efforts did–Chained To Hell was still warfare, but as much as it satiated the bloodlust for more Deathhammer, its tactics felt a bit more predictable.

Let’s set the record straight: Any notion that Deathhammer have given into the faux pas of “fucking relaxing” is extremely unfounded. Warfare is fully electric, energized with the animalistic, bloodthirsty fervor found when man strips (or embraces) his humanity on the battlefields of metal.

To be completely honest, I have no idea what the throaty voice at the beginning of the album is saying. I’ve played this album countless times and I still can’t decipher a bit of its utterance until the final two words. “Eleeeeeeetric Waaaaarfarrrre….” emerges from the depths as the first track of “Savage Aggressor” kicks into full gear like the lovechild of Bonded By Blood Exodus and In The Sign Of Evil Sodom bursting prematurely from its mother’s biker-meth riddled womb. It’s satanically fun and a ripping good time delivered at breakneck speed; certainly it will satiate any fan of this style of thrash. However, it isn’t until the second track that will make even long-time Deathhammer fans hit the back button and start the song again. “Crushing The Pearly Gates” is the first moment that should really wow even the most jaded, tolerance-addled thrash junkie with its whiplash changes in pattern and tempo. It’s a celebration of A.D.H.D.–It rushes through one idea to the next with an almost reckless abandon, and damn you if you can’t keep up. Throughout the six-and-a-half-minute song, riffs (and particularly leads) that so many contemporary thrash bands would kill for are blitzkrieged with reckless abandon, as though in a hurry to reach a specific point. That ultimate climax arrives after a particularly bloodthirsty guitar solo dual that kicks in at the 3:45 mark over a barrage of riff changes. The guitars play off one another in an artful display of war: Riff, parry with riff, strike with dive-bomb solo–all over the machine gun fire and exploding mortars of the percussion–before the dance of battle finds equal ground in an Iron Maiden gallop. Both guitars fight for the high ground, one-upping one another as a literal horse gallop syncs in triumph with the song, riding off in a battle-hardened stampede into the distance as though representing the eternal conflict between Heaven and Hell. It is, arguably, one of the greatest chunks of Deathhammer’s discography.

While it is a notable highlight, the absolutely flurry of high voltage assault on Electric Warfare doesn’t end there. Sergeant Salsten and Sadomancer push and pull and challenge one another like a pair of electrons around the proton that sits at their collective understanding of metal’s heart and soul: Repulsing, conducting, and energizing the spirit of 80’s ironcraft, Deathhammer give off nothing short of fusion-inspired power from the thrash greats. On “Enter the Morbid,” it’s as though they are challenging one another to keep up with the whirlwind in a daring grin that says, “Oh I know you got the chops, let’s see how you keep up with this.” Deathhammer are clearly having a hell of a time keeping pace with one another and challenging their opposing brother-in-steel to see just how fast they can deploy their armamants and just how battle-ready they are.

That Iron Maiden presence again rears its head on “Return To Sodom/Soldiers,” albeit with plenty of that unhinged, maniac fury that has come to be expected from the Norwegian speedheads. It’s suprisingly technical, especially given the very Venom-esque, “HERE WE GO…. ALRIGHT!” and the very late-80’s punk feel of the gang vocals. It all works together: From the punk ferociousness to the more refined scope of Maiden-esque heavy metal, Deathhammer are firing on all cylinders. This is the album I’ve been waiting for the band to make: Electric Warfare is as unstable and deliciously furious as it’s moniker makes it out to be. The way tracks like “Rapid Violence” inject warfare-approved amphetamines into the very heart of heavy metal bleeds with an unhinged dedication to the to core elements that make this genre great. The electric warfare between Sargent Salsten and Sadomancer is simply too great to be overlooked. It’d be easy to write Deathhammer off as “that fun thrash band that was featured on that Darkthrone cover that one time,” but the band prove time and again that they’re a true force to be reckoned with. Inject this one straight to the veins at any sign of impeding warfare (on the battlefield, in the wilderness, or fighting for the last shopping cart at the local grocery) for a completely unhinged shot of true metal vitality. The album simply sweats adrenaline-frenzied testosterone and oneupmanship at every sharp corner it turns, and every bit of the blood frenzy that went into its creation is becomes a treat for bloodthirsty, shellshocked fans on the hunt for something both familiar and exciting.