Gallhammer - Beyond the Hatred
Peaceville Records - CDVILEF147- May 21, 2007
By George Grant
With the release of a “best of” album, Peaceville Records thought it would be a smart idea to release a
Gallhammer EP. This crust/black metal female trio from Japan certainly has made a name for themselves. Riding the gender hype,
Gallhammer is hoping to claim more victims with this download only EP,
Beyond the Hatred.
In reality, this is a useless release. Sure, the music is still the same.
Gallhammer serves up their lo-fi doomy black metal with the crust punk edge. You’ll easily hear a
Hellhammer influence, incase the name didn’t already give it away. Also the band’s punk influences will shine through on
‘Insane Beautiful Sunnyday Slaughter.' The bass dominance and rock and roll groove on the track made me think of early
Misfits material. Despite all these great features, I can’t help but get over the fact that all of these tracks save the closing
‘Endless Nauseous Days,’ will be on the full length release
The Dawn of….
It also doesn’t help that the live tracks are also useless. Usually when live tracks are included as a bonus, it offers something more or at least different than a studio version. The live tracks on
Beyond the Hatred sound like other studio tracks from a different session. There’s no crowd response, there’s no special arrangements, there’s no special performances.
In the end, this is not worth your time. Even if you’re a die-hard fan of
Gallhammer, I see no reason why you can’t wait until the release of
The Dawn of…. This release is very puzzling.
Official Gallhammer Website
Official Peaceville Records Website
