Toronto, Canada’s notorious purveyors of Bestial Black Metal Nuclearhammer are back with a new seventeen and a half minute, three-track EP. Renowned for their unforgivingly raw and relentlessly heavy approach to War / Blackened Death Metal, a new release from this band is an event gladly welcomed by those who dabble within the stygian realm of supreme musical evil. This short manifestation, entitled ‘Xaos 333’ indulges the group’s Bestial leanings whilst being bathed within a deeply murky, abstract and atmospheric lens.
The opening song ‘Sabbatic Wine & The Devil’s Graal’ begins with a short patch of unsettling dark void-esque ambience before the high energy instrumentation explodes out of the audible blackness. The band pounds away at a few core catchy riff meditations whilst the percussion taps its discordant rhythm into the shadowy nether realm of sound like a beckoning call to arms for a militia of undead ghouls. ‘Mother of Poisons’ riles the storm to a new plane of aggression where the echoing vocals seep out from deep within the track’s torrential musical terrorism. The drums and guitars demonstrate a level of racing force with a power akin to a massive volume of water exploding outward from a heavily pressurised industrial pipe. The screaming lead guitars in the later moments of this ten minute behemoth add even more tension to the already extremely claustrophobic atmosphere. ‘Vocus Magicae’ maintains this congested state but also offers a similar linearity to its central riffs as the first track on the EP. I like when the band slows somewhat to release a small degree of this pressure before proceeding to envelop the remainder of the song within their dense destructive cosmic chaos.
This is a highly entertaining little release from this Canadian outfit and I particularly enjoy the band’s approach to generating a hasty, malevolent and vigorous atmosphere. I think the longer central track is the best cut from the release overall, but the other songs are also performed very well. If you’ve enjoyed any of Nuclearhammer’s material up until this point, then you will most likely get a fair amount of enjoyment from these new tracks and I’d also recommend this to fans of Teitanblood, Tetragrammacide, Revenge, Nirriti and Conqueror. (Huw)
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12 years after their groundbreaking opus ‘Serpentine Hermetic Lucifer’, Nuclearhammer gift us with 17 new minutes of the iconic Black/War Metal fusion they’ve perfected.
Although these tracks were supposedly recorded in 2018, they still prove that Nuclearhammer have not lost their touch at all. ‘Xaos 333’ is simultaneously chaotic and hypnotic, with repetitive structures and a crushing atmosphere that feels like drone noise. The vocals are ghastly as ever, with serpentine whispers and cavernous growls that fuel the cosmic power of the album. The drumming is top notch, with blastbeats giving it that stagnant astral feel as they’re settled quieter in the mix, and halfway through the album we’re introduced to a dense cacophony of leads that reinforce the trance state of ascension before being sucked back into the black hole of chaos and destruction.
Nuclearhammer continues to impress, and while this release is short, it is some of their most magical and memorable material. (Rusty)
