Sludgehammer "The Fallen Sun" Review

                Arguably, Death Metal and Thrash Metal go hand in hand and if there was any doubt of this before then check out this new album “The Fallen Sun” from Toronto’s own Sludgehammer. Canada is known for bringing out the coldest in people with the 7 months of winter, but it also means you get the heaviest Metal so you can have that warm fuzzy feeling in you. The band has shared the stage with plenty of metal icons including the likes of Polish Death Metal legends Decapitated and headlined a highly successful CD release show for the aforementioned album that definitely brought in some new fans.

                The album opens up with “Demons From the Woodwork” and it’s like an instant slap in the face, the pure magnitude of Thrash that kicks off this album really sets the stage for what’s going to be coming. The vocals are raspy and brutal with some more old Heavy Metal/Thrash style vocals to contrast with it throughout the song and mostly in the chorus. Once the solo kicks in you know the album will be a treat for anyone who appreciates true musicianship as the solos are fast, technical and all around jaw dropping. After the solos and closer to the end of the song the tempo drops down to a pace that will get hair flying everywhere at any show.

                “Carrion Eater” a little later on starts off very similar to some old Maiden songs with the pure harmony in the riff and just the all around sound, but this is a Death Metal album and before long the heavy distortion and deep growls start and remind you of what you’re listening to. The verses of “Carrion Eater” are slower and quite easy to follow but are guaranteed to start a pit no problem. The riffs are catchy and full of hooks and the vocals are nothing to mess around with transitioning between brutal and thrashy fluently and keeping you interested. This song is more standard, no insane solos or any tricks, just some good solid Metal and what else could you need?

                Next is a song you won’t want to say out loud in public, “Consuming Afterbirth.” This song is probably one of the heavier ones on the album, the riff is fairly consistent throughout with minor changes, but it’s the guitar solos that make it worth a hundred plays. It’s worth mentioning again that the musicianship on this album is top notch and this song is just more proof of the consistency of Sludgehammer. There’s not a whole lot more to mention about “Consuming Afterbirth,” the song is catchy for a Death Metal song and demonstrates exactly what the band has to offer.

                Need I say more? “The Fallen Sun” is some top tier Canadian Metal, it would be easy to see Sludgehammer being sent to some of the huge European festivals to rock out in front of tens of thousands of Metalhands. If you’re a Death Metal fan, a Thrash Metal fan, hell, even just a Metal fan, you owe it to yourself to pick up “The Fallen Sun” because you sure as hell won’t be disappointed.

90/100

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Decapitated with Theories, Mad Trapper and Sludgehammer at The Mod Club, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

                A night of Metal in Toronto is exactly what I needed and man tonight, February 1^st 2016, was it about to get gritty here at the Mod Club. Decapitated had finally made it here on their tour for “Blood Mantra” and although Black Breath weren’t able to make it, local support was added to make up for it.

                The night opened with Sludgehammer, a local band with some great art on their bass drum. When the lights went down and the crowd got ready out came the guys in this local band battering through each of their songs. Although being unfamiliar with these guys, I had to go home and find their music; Sludgehammer had the stage presence of a high end professional band. Battering away through everything they could, making jokes to the audience and having some showmanship is what we look for and although a lot of people like to skip the local bands at these shows, you would have regretted missing this band.

                As it turns out, they had to say goodnight, but they got me headbanging heavy and I thought I was more than ready for Mad Trapper, the second local band. There was something wrong when this band took the stage, the vocals were completely inaudible, the vocalist couldn’t even stand up straight and kept stumbling around the stage and into the other band members and while the instrumentals didn’t seem to miss a beat, the bassist of this band looked like he was ready to say fuck it and quit. Everything involving the vocalist seemed to be going wrong and if this is a common thing for this band, I couldn’t suggest going out of your way for them. After about 8 fairly quick songs and nearly being spat on by their vocalist more than once, the band left the stage without so much of a “we are Mad Trapper” or “this song is (insert song name here).” Backing vocals were audible and quite awesome to be honest, but as it stands, the vocalist sort of killed the momentum of the night thus far.

                Next up was the band touring with Decapitated, Theories. Having only one album and being a surprisingly new band it was a little surprising to me to see Theories playing main support for such an iconic Death Metal band, but after seeing them live I understand why they got the slot. Playing and writing grind means they can blast through songs quickly with the longest song on their album “Regression” being 4 minutes and every other songs being 1-2 minutes it’s easy to play your entire album and for all I knew, they would. I was unsure what to expect from this band, not knowing anything about them before the show, they definitely made me a fan. I’m not the biggest Grind fan and when their vocalist came out it looked like they were about to belt out something not so fast and brutal. The pits opened, hair was flying and they floored a lot of people who didn’t know them, myself included, the growls were low and brutal, the crushing screams were quick keeping up with their constantly blasting drummer and the solos are so short and quick no one knew when they were coming. The joke about missing 10 minutes of a concert and missing 4 Grind bands almost seemed true; if you blinked you’d miss a song. They played their bit, got an incredible reaction from the crowd and definitely made some friends at their merch table as I happened to see but they were soon about to be in the shadow of the all mighty Decapitated.

                So here’s my experience with Decapitated, I know “Nihility” as everyone who knows this band does and I know “Blood Mantra” which means there was bound to be a bunch of stuff I didn’t know about to be blasting through those speakers. The band took the stage, the lights came up and Decapitated started, as did the pits practically instantly. Playing all sorts of new songs from “Blood Mantra” like “Exiled in Flesh” “Veins” and the title track mixed with fan favourites like “Day 69” and “Post(?) Organic” the band threw their hair everywhere, played some outstanding solos, talked and joked with the crowd, but eventually they broke into the first song I was really hoping to see. “Nest” features one of my favourite instrumental sections with the iconic chugging of Decapitated playing under a tapping section that seemed impossible live for me to follow, somehow the band did it and absolutely nailed how it sounded on record. A couple more songs played out and a wall of death was opened (where yours truly, the top dumbass broke his thumb) but the main event happened, closing out the main set was “Spheres of Madness” and nowhere was safe, the pit grew to obscene sizes. “Spheres” played out and before you knew it the band left the stage, only to come back with another new song “Instinct” which was the last song I was looking forward to seeing tonight, after cranking through it they again, said their good nights and left the stage only to be chanted for by the entire crowd and what do you know, they came back for a second encore!! Unfortunately this was not a song I recognized; neither did any of the few people I asked on my way out so I guess that part of their set has to remain a surprise. Everyone was exhausted, this was what I needed, a good, heavy, Death Metal show and man did I get it, sore neck and all.

Sludgehammer Performance: 85/100

Mad Trapped performance: 12/100

Theories performance: 78/100

Decapitated performance: 95/100

Overall experience: 90/100