Hammers Of Misfortune - 17th Street


It's hard not to compare Hammers Of Misfortune to Mastodon. Of course they're different in many respects, female background vocals and a tendency toward celtic fiddle tune like melodic NWOBHM double leads guitars stand way out in front, but they very much sound like they snuck into the studio at 3am and plugged straight into Mastodon's signal chain. The guitars are sludgy, the vocals have that unmistakeable reverby Troy Sanders vibe, and just like Mastodon every album is a completely different kind of thing. 

But wowzers is their 2011 album 17th Street a completely enjoyable listen. I of course love death growls, Black Metal shrieking, Slavic Chant, and all the extreme stuff, but i know a lot of people desperately just want "regular singing," so Hammers of Misfortune definitely have you covered. 

Actually, they sound almost exactly like The Sword if you removed any trace of Stoner/Desert Rock influence and replaced it with sludgy, grungy, Corrosion Of Conformity style Alt-Metal riffage that suddenly veers off into kitchy Panic! At The Disco piano theatricality without any warning. 17th Street is a sonic journey of unpredictable proportions, is what i'm saying. Sometimes it sounds like a totally normal Metal album, then you get to Summer Tears which sounds like Pink Floyd covering a Queen ballad, and it's hard to remember you're still listening to the same album. And we end up Going Somewhere disconcertingly Mastodon meets Krokus reimagining Candlemass to close out the album. 

Final verdict, 17th Street is a trip and a half, and you might want to bring a raincoat or a helmet or possibly even a guard dog along for the walk. No telling what kind of craziness is going to jump out at you from between buildings as you stroll by.

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