May the Hammer Smash the Cross

Of the many National Socialist black metal scenes that were spawned worldwide after the emergence of Burzum’s influence from Norway, the Polish scene was and still is perhaps the most unapologetic and explicit in its message. Spearheaded by bands such as Graveland, Veles and Capricornus, the radical patriotism and White supremacist idealism expressed by the members of this scene was met with outrage, even within the larger-scale black metal scene.

Thor’s Hammer was one of these bands. Primarily used as a side-project by Capricornus, Thor’s Hammer forged a mere four albums over six years before hanging up their right-wing hat and calling it a day. ‘May the Hammer Smash the Cross’ is perhaps the most artistically experimental and innovative of these releases, and presents an odd take on the vision Euronymous originally had when he created the Black Circle and ‘modern’ black metal.

The album commences with a bombastic introduction as disharmonic shrill synths play over majestic brass and marching drums. The introduction ends with a sample of one of Hitler’s speeches, and then the main portion of the album commences. As soon as the title track commences, the obscure production and style of the music becomes apparent; treble-heavy drum machine blasts accompany faded minor chords whilst choral keyboards play high above them. This mesh of sound serves as a bed on which Capricornus lays his vocals, here more guttural and akin to Death metal than those used by his contemporaries Rob Darken or Blasphemous.

The first track is solid and catchy, with varying time signatures and mood changes throughout. The keyboards create a stunningly beautiful ambience which is contrasted by the truly evil vocals; this track sets the pace of the album nicely. Sadly, the tracks that follow are largely disjointed and rather bland, save perhaps some virtues. For example, “…In Our Hands Alone” begins sloppily; the guitars are ever-so-slightly out of time with the drum machine, and the monotony of the riff used combines with this flaw to create a shoddy beginning to the song. The punkiness of this track is so cliché that it becomes nearly unlistenable, being saved only by a tasteful – though last-minute - guitar solo.

Of all the tracks, only two stand out: the title track and “Might is Right”, a track speckled with brilliant use of octaved guitar patterns and harmonic keyboards, so much so that I’m almost reminded of Strid. The rest of the tracks play on the same formula so much that they become indistinguishable. For example, “All We Need is War” is a sturdy track and contains some interesting ideas, but for the most part rehashes structures used throughout the rest of the album. The vocals get old quickly too, being demoted from the ‘innovative’ podium to the ‘indistinguishable growl’ gutter. The Absurd cover is pretty shitty too; imagine Satyricon decided to cover the song in the style of the theme from the Yorkshire TV Show “Heartbeat”. It’s worth one listen, but only for the comedic value.

It’s a shame that the entire album wasn’t as solid as its best tracks - which are enough to carry this album's rating to 65% - but sadly that’s the way a lot of solo projects go. Hey, at least it’s not Xasthur.