Hammerhands - Glaciers

Hammerhands - Glaciers

Self-Released - 2013

Sludge, Drone, Post-Metal

Rated: ***

Forceful aggression meets epic heaviness on a battlefield of massive sandstone pillars, which swing like pendulums and grind like pistons.  The band got it right when they named themselves Hammerhands.  Their album ‘Glaciers’ is some 62 minutes of hair-trigger tension with the occasional outburst of naked brutality.  Throat tearing vocals, choppy guitars and blunt edged drums lay an unsympathetic beatdown on listeners.  When those pillars get moving, they combine in such a way as to make an inescapable killing field, a maze of death.  It’s intricate and frightening in its intensity.  Hardcore elements mixed with doom, sludge and the panoramic wastelands of drone create a sparse, syncopated open field that feels more like a prison than a picnic.  Wide-open vistas do not always capture the sense of freedom, sometimes they can be suffocating and an unwelcoming doorway to a Great Beyond of personal nullification.  This isn’t for the weak-willed or faint of heart, the first five tracks will isolate and bludgeon the listener with smashing rhythms, closing track “Equus” is a 30 minute soundscape that will finally implode the listener’s skull.  There is no preparation for this Canadian band’s assault.

(Written by Lucas)

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