Triumph of Death

If you know anything of Thomas Gabriel Fischer's criticism of Hellhammer, it was the production. I aint gonna argue with him, its pretty bad, however, time could have been worse to Hellhammer, which is due to a combination of many things. Firstly, there is the obvious success of Hellhammer's 'successor band' Celtic Frost; however, there is also the rise of 'bedroom black metal' bands, whose lousy production generally equals out pre-Satanic Rites era Hellhammer. Officially released on CD and LP for the first time, (partly to cease the stream of sub-par bootlegs, and a part symbolic release, ending Thomas Fischer's less than angelic relationship with Hellhammer or something) Triumph of Death, as well as the Death Fiend and Satanic Rites demos, has never been more easy to get. So, should you part with your money to get your hands on something that music journalists have repeatedly criticised and vituperated?


I'll start by following the MA golden rule by talking about the music; the thirteen tracks presented on the Triumph of Death demo are basically the musical equivalent of having your brain removed with a large blunt hammer from hell (heh, heh) and vary from the fast and aggressive 'Blood Insanity' (a personal favorite of mine), to the slower, unnervingly creepy 'Reaper', and all are primitive and raw, with about as many solos as St. Anger. An interesting thing to listen out for is Tom G.'s droning guitar sound (if you can hear it over the clanging heavy bass, more on that later), which is basically identical to the one he's been employing with Celtic Frost for over twenty years, Cold Lake not withstanding, as well as the vocals provided by bassist Steve Warrior (no relation to Tom), who can probably lay claim to being one of the first ever black metal vocalists.


Now, onto perhaps the thing that Hellhammer were criticised for the most for back in the day, and it is still a slightly colossal problem. The production. Its shit. Now, as a bassist, I'm all for us four-stringers not hiding behind a guitar sound thats drowning us out, but here, its heavier than a solid iron blue whale scrotum and whenever Steve stops playing, its almost a relief to hear him shut up. Bruce Day's drumming here has a slightly fake sound, and at time he sounds like hes attempting a Beach Boys song, but apart from that, the drums are dine. Tom's guitar tone, no matter how much like Celtic Frost it sounds, also sounds like a cheap, fucked up amp that you get in a starting kit thats had a foot through it. Though thats probably what it was anyway. But in the end, how much less mythos would this demo have if had been recorded in an actual studio and not some bunker on the outskirts of Zurich anyway?

You may recall, at the start of this review, I asked a question to you, the reader, should you part with your money for this poorly produced demo from over a quarter of a century ago? The answer is a resounding 'YES!' Despite shitty production, this is a fantastic demo, with or without the usual Hellhammer mythos. Recommended for anyone with an interest in either black metal, early Celtic Frost, or people with a sexual lust for heavy as lead bass.