Hammr returns to its roots with Eternal Possession, and at the same time gets back to basics.

There was an EP titled Hammr released in 2015 that started to capture the rowdy emanations that had been percolating for a while. Unholy Destruction (2018) was the debut long-player and it was a monster. Now we have Eternal Possession. Like the earlier work, the new album is the singular province of “JH” who started it all in the mid-twenty-teens. The label says that on this new album “each of these nine sick ’n’ sleazy slices of minimal-is-maximal crush just steamroll the listener with preternatural ease.” That sounds like a good selling point.

On “Forces of Sin” the vocals sound like they are emanating from another dimension. There is a furious pounding pace that is happening in a closed environment, as if you are being pummeled while seated in a chair. It is claustrophobic and upsetting. “Ritual Desecration” is next, and it is out there, too. It has an excessive aggression to it that I like a lot. Very punk, very thrashy.

“Seeping Chalice” is an entirely different beast with a motorizing kind of muscle. And then you have songs like “Negative Fury,” which is not only the longest track but is also relentlessly oppressive in its battering. If the metric is crush factor, then every track breaks the needle.

My favorite song might be the title number. It seems like an explanation of everything to me, a recounting and a declaration of what the music is all about. It is a roaring, smashing encumbrance of your senses that pushes straight into your brain. I am really glad I heard this album – it makes me want to dig deeper. Recommended.

Eternal Possession is out on Friday, February 11^th through Hells Headbangers on CD, tape, and digital. Vinyl to follow. Check out the label’s website or punch the Bandcamp link below.

Links.

Bandcamp, https://hammr-us.bandcamp.com/album/eternal-possession

Hells Headbangers website, http://www.hellsheadbangers.com/