The rousing sound of the early HELLHAMMER numbers that evolved and transcended its journey from bunker to lousy venues, the most recognizable vocal that only prey, and Tom’s placing of the hand on the chest as the crowd shouts “UGHHH!” makes listening to this performance spine-chilling. Even though I had that experience while watching TRIUMPH OF DEATH performance clips online, I must admit that I felt envious of all the blessed fans watching Tom Gabriel Warrior playing classic, never-been-played HELLHAMMER numbers in those venues. But some balm for the soul here, as those who are never blessed to see them live, here is the exciting news. TRIUMPH OF DEATH, the HELLHAMMER tribute outfit spearheaded by former member Tom Gabriel Warrior, has released their debut live album (compiled from three live performances covering classic HELLHAMMER numbers) via Noise Records / BMG. And this line-up of Tom Gabriel Warrior (voice / guitar), André Mathieu – (guitar / vocals), Jamie Lee Cussigh (bass) and Tim Iso Wey (drums) and their performance on 12 tracks included here will make you wonder – what would one feel if they could see HELLHAMMER play live with their original line-up! This question is certainly not to challenge this line-up, but to complement them for evoking the right HELLHAMMER-ish spirit and atmosphere with their feisty and pulverizing performance. And as soon as the opener ‘The Third Of The Storms (Evoked Damnation)’ will vent out of your speaker, you shall say – it’s four decades later, and Tom G. Warrior still has it. The man’s voice never ages! Listening to the crowd going “ugh ugh ugh” and Tom smiling, we all can sense again he is a living legend! Then, as progress with incoming classics ‘Massacra’, ‘Maniac’ and ‘Blood Insanity’, you would surely think that why can’t all live drums sound like this? Tim Iso Wey on drums was surely getting all the right energies by seeing Tom G. Warrior in front of him and delivered a boisterous performance to make these primeval songs revive from their moldy tombs. He added more wicked energy to these songs and combined them with the thumping basslines of the rest tracks, ‘Reaper’, ‘Revelations Of Doom’, ‘Messiah’, ‘Visions Of Mortality’ and ‘Triumph Of Death’ will make you obey and lure to listen countless times more. The fascinating interplay between Tom Gabriel Warrior and André Mathieu on guitar and the enticing tonality they produced is enough to send anyone back to the days of HELLHAMMER foundry. The fantastically warm production work by Tom Gabriel Warrior and TRIPTYKON’s V. Santura, surely did the rest to capture the atmosphere, raw spirit and intensity of these historic songs that have transcended decades to become valued and undying. This experience should remind all that 40 years may have passed since their beginnings in Nurensdorf, Switzerland, in May 1982, however, the legacy of this band with three demos “Death Fiend”, “Satanic Rites” and “Triumph Of Death”, the seminal “Apocalyptic Raids” EP and two tracks from the legendary Death Metal compilation will forever echo. And their influence on the early extreme, Death and Black Metal genres is forever eternalized. So, none shall pass this opportunity anyway to rejoice their legacy with awe-dropping delight, as “Resurrection Of The Flesh – Triumph Of Death Live, 2023″ is available as a deluxe CD media book, double gatefold LP with booklet and posters on black vinyl and B&W swirl (indie store exclusive) and also as Super deluxe double red vinyl LP bookpack with bonus 7” single plus posters. To find out more about the band and label, visit www.triumphofdeath.net, www.noiserecords.net, www.bmg.com.

In the vast world of extreme music there is one name that clearly stands out as an elder statesman of the bunch. Tom G. Warrior is a name that will stand the test of time, one of the original pioneers of extreme music (and yes, for its time it was extreme) and innovators of musical transcendence. Tom with the help of Martin Ain would go on to create hellish tunes with HELLHAMMER and CELTIC FROST, both bands that laid the seeds to what would go on to fruit musical genres such as Death Metal and Black Metal. All that being said you will be in for a treat of nostalgia when you see that Tom has recorded a HELLHAMMER set with his new HELLHAMMER tribute / worship band TRIUMPH OF DEATH. Let’s dive in! It’s a toss-up when you get a live album, it will either be a solid musical recording or some terrible garbage recording that is overpriced and has some jackass yelling “Play some SKYNYRD”. Right from the get-go you know this is a solid produced / recorded set of music that will be ready to blow your head off and melt your ears. Things get rolling with ‘The Third Of The Storms (Evoked Damnation)’ and Tom’s vocals have survived the test of time and sound solid. The production is clear, crisp and is not overwhelming or underwhelming. The crowd is lively, but is not really heard until the songs are done, which is always a good sign of the quality of the production. The rest of the musicians are on point and musically tight. The pit starter of ‘Massacra’ is up next with its headbanging manifesto up in full force. Other classics on this album are ‘Horus / Aggressor’, ‘Messiah’, ‘Crucifixion’ and the band’s namesake ‘Triumph Of Death’. Horns up!!! This is a great live homage to HELLHAMMER and honestly you can’t go wrong with any Metal musical projects that Tom G. Warrior works on (note: I did say Metal not industrial as there are mixed reviews on his industrial band APOLLYON SON). A really great live album that will have you feeling nostalgic to the first time you heard HELLHAMMER. Now go out and buy this live album so you can witness / testify Warrior’s great Metal beginnings. I highly recommend. For more info: www.triumphofdeath.net, www.noiserecords.net, www.bmg.com

TRIUMPH OF DEATH are the latest project from the legendary Tom G. Warrior, serving as a live offshoot of one of the most revered and esteemed acts in the Heavy Metal canon: HELLHAMMER. What “Resurrection Of The Flesh – Triumph Of Death Live, 2023” offers is 12 live tracks of HELLHAMMER material recorded at three separate shows in Germany, Portugal and the United States with a four piece line-up, with a track list that covers material from all three of the original 1983 demo tape releases, “Death Fiend”, “Triumph Of Death” and “Satanic Rites” and 1984’s “Apocalyptic Raids” EP. HELLHAMMER have been credited by publications, fans and bands across the spectrum over the span of four decades as being “proto Death Metal” and with the updated live sound and fresh production, this is more evident than its ever been and the songs have a renewed sense of life to be gifted to both longtime fans and the next generation. For being over four decades old, these songs have not aged at all. Evident with the opening chords of ‘The Third Of The Storms (Evoked Damnation)’ is the presence of what the live production does to these old songs. The prominent pronunciation of both Jamie Lee Cussigh and Tim Iso Wey in the mix brings a stark underlining to the low-end that just wasn’t possible with the analog technology available back in 1983. The double guitar attack of both Tom G. Warrior and André Mathieu merge together to create a sonic wall of primitive information. Somehow, after four decades, Tom G. Warrior’s guitar tone has been almost perfectly preserved in relation to the original HELLHAMMER recordings. Tracks such as ‘Massacra’ and ‘Crucifixion’ charge ahead with renewed and revitalized energy, with Tom’s vocals sounding almost ageless atop of the music. ‘Blood Insanity’ receives new life thanks to the absolutely sinister sounding bass work at the beginning from Jamie Lee Cussigh. It is the sequential run starting on the eighth track, ‘Horus/Aggressor’, that really drives home TRIUMPH OF DEATH’s zenith and HELLHAMMER’s contribution to the history of extreme music. These are old songs which include ‘Revelations Of Doom’, ‘Messiah’ and the CELTIC FROST track ‘Visions Of Mortality’ (which actually was supposed to be a HELLHAMMER track – Frank), that are brought into new form. The low-end has pronouncement, the riffs have sharp clarity, the band as a whole is locked in and dialed in… many bands never make it to the forty year mark and a live album after forty years often sounds sloppy and tired, “Resurrection Of The Flesh” not only sounds vitalized, it puts many younger bands to shame. If “Resurrection Of The Flesh – Triumph Of Death Live, 2023” happens to be the final piece of the HELLHAMMER legacy, then it is a fitting one. A testament covering the legacy demos of a legendary band and an iconic musician. TRIUMPH OF DEATH filled a demand that was decades in the making and this album is a mandatory listen for old and new fans across the board. For more information on TRIUMPH OF DEATH, check www.triumphofdeath.net. For information on the labels there is www.noiserecords.net and www.bmg.com

Nostalgia can be such a divisive factor at times. Bands that live on the hype for that one great song written or the fans themselves can disregard the latest output from the bands and only just want to hear the hits. Bands that have (multiple) farewell tours that last for years, or how about you hold a news conference to sign a contract to say we are done, but you come back a few years later “Oh just kidding” and those that reform with only one original member. I’m sorry about my ranting, because I know my last criteria fits TRIUMPH OF DEATH, but much of the previous statements are sort of a sore subject for me, because some bands have abused this sense of nostalgia. In my eyes and ears at least. First, with TRIUMPH OF DEATH, I feel we have a legitimate reason for this release and semi-reformation. I appreciate there are no full-scale tours, a residency at Las Vegas or CNN is going to do a meet and greet live studio appearance. Nothing stupid or WTF??!? like. Tom gathered a core group of musicians, played some shows to appease those who were clamoring for a sound reunion of sorts. This one release for those of us that could not make the shows are given this excellent audio memento. There will always be those who say is this truly live, with no audio enhancements, etc but in my opinion I feel it is mostly legit. Everything sounds amazing. The guitars are thick and heavy. Face it Tom G Warrior basically created this sound. The bassist and her playing are heard and present the mix and she does an excellent job. Yes, the drummer as well does what he does with conviction. As I listen to this I get such a sense of energy and enthusiasm in the sound and the playing. Everything is just so clear and precise. You know they had to be hyped for the show and that totally comes across in what I’m hearing. Just listen to the beginning of track 12 ‘Triumph Of Death’ and the song itself. My god! Just the sound emanating from my speakers is so cool. What’s funny, I was not a big fan of HELLHAMMER in those early days. But as time went on with CELTIC FROST, TRIPTYKON, etc. I grew to appreciate the music and also the legacy. So forgive my prior ranting, no excess nostalgia, no overdone tours. Just a great ode, a tribute to that band that once was. www.triumphofdeath.net, www.noiserecords.net, www.bmg.com

This is not a typical review, we’re not dealing with a new band, where I explain a bit of their history, what style they play, and how they play it… nor is it a “classic” band within the Metal scene, and we’re going to dissect their new work. We’re going to talk about one of the founding fathers. I’ve never believed in the possibility of a good album coming out when long-inactive bands get together to record an album, or even active bands decide to reissue an old and iconic album, but this year I have to eat my own words. First with CAVALERA’s albums “Morbid Visions” / “Bestial Devastation” and now with this HELLHAMMER tribute band. This “resurrect-band” is formed by T.G Warrior and three recruits enlisted for the cause, of course, not the original line-up. When we talk about HELLHAMMER, we’re talking about an icon of extreme music. I’m not going to go into explaining anything about them, because we’re on Voices From The Darkside, and I don’t think anyone here hasn’t heard of them. But I want to say that talking about HELLHAMMER is not talking about exquisite music, well-played, with great technique and great sound. HELLHAMMER is pure feeling, it’s 3 or 4 chords repeated divinely, making you feel the “Metal” inside your brain. Influences from MOTÖRHEAD and VENOM all the way. With all that said, I’ll tell you that this album has pleasantly surprised me.I didn’t expect much from it, and I loved it. The 12 tracks review their entire discography, from their three demos to their MLP. The sound has maintained the essence of the original group, the dirty and basic riffs, but with small changes in the compositions that make them more current, and they really are brilliant. Perhaps the band is now less “bass-oriented” than in their origins, and proof of this is that they’ve added an extra guitarist compared to the original line-up. It’s important to clarify that it’s a live album, with good sound, recorded in 2023 at the Hell’s Heroes festival in Houston, USA, the Dark Easter Metal Meeting in Munich, Germany and the SWR Barroselas Metal Fest in Portugal. I can’t tell you much more about the album. They are the same old tracks you’ve heard a thousand times, played today, well-executed with a dirty sound, but with quality and a vintage feel, yet sounding current. TG Warrior had this to say about the album: “This album is, most importantly, a testament to the unique connection that exists between the audience and this band. HELLHAMMER’s music was an underground token from 1982 to 1984, often ridiculed and shunned, and we owe the fact that we are now able to perform it all across the globe entirely to the grace, openness and enthusiasm of those who make exactly these concerts possible. They give us as much as we’ve given them, and my gratitude to them knows no limits.” www.triumphofdeath.net, www.noiserecords.net, www.bmg.com

He was, is and will always be a mastermind of the dull, mysteriously hollow and choppy sound and of course the powerful “Uuugh!” barked into the microphone: Tom Warrior, the face of the legendary HELLHAMMER and CELTIC FROST, the singer and guitarist who today with TRIUMPH OF DEATH not only manages the legacy of this – unintentionally – groundbreaking band from Switzerland. He also knows to add new accents and new sounds to the already existing state of art with TRYPTIKON. But before we ask for more new stuff from them, it’s now time to pay homage to noises which started it all. Keeping the old school character of HELLHAMMER, “Ressurection Of The Flesh – TRIUMPH OF DEATH Live, 2023” appears as a classic live album like it was common amongst Metal bands in the eighties. Compiled from recordings from three festivals, this audio document begins with the A-side of the “Apocalyptic Raids” EP: ‘The Third Of The Storms (Evoked Damnation)’ and ‘Massacra’. Within a few seconds it becomes unmistakably clear why the hollow, dry and bluntly-tapped HELLHAMMER sounds and the invoking singing of Tom Warrior has influenced so many bands in the subsequent history of Metal. In its monotonous simplicity, the music creates an atmosphere that mixes rawness and brutality with a mysterious mood and opens up space for a kind of apocalyptic doom, just as the outbreak into furiousity is also possible anytime. Like the sudden outburst of ‘Decapitator’ or the dooming ‘Blood Insanity’, both of which were originally found on the demo which the band is named after today. It’s also exciting to hear where HELLHAMMER and early CELTIC FROST located their influences, you can clearly hear not only VENOM and MOTÖRHEAD, also ACCEPT had an unmistakable impression on Tom Warrior and his brother in crime Eric Martin Ain (R.I.P.), as you can hear on ‘Maniac’ and also on ‘Horus / Aggressor’. The last piece written for HELLHAMMER, ‘Visions Of Mortality’, can be found as the penultimate track in the set. As known, the song then appeared on the debut EP of CELTIC FROST , “Morbid Tales”. Finally a thirteen-minute, extremely invocative and even rapturous variant of the song ‘Triumph Of Death’, which was about nine minutes long on the demo, concludes a live album that one should get a copy of, if one is familiar with the work of Tom Warrior and his bands or feels at home in Death Metal, Black Metal or other extreme varieties of the Metal genre. More info at: www.triumphofdeath.net, www.noiserecords.net, www.bmg.com

Does a HELLHAMMER live album make sense in 2023? No, since HELLHAMMER doesn’t exist anymore and this is a TRIUMPH OF DEATH live album. This is a very important statement since it allows us to understand what we have in our hands. Tom Gabriel Fischer once declared that it was pretty awful that HELLHAMMER’s songs didn’t get the chance to be heard live and so here we are with TRIUMPH OF DEATH. For this project, Fischer decided to involve some young musicians and so we have André Mathieu on guitar, Jamie Lee Cussigh on bass and Tim Iso Wey on drums. TRIUMPH OF DEATH were founded in 2018 and of course they are 100% devoted to live activity. Three of their concerts (Hell’s Heroes Festival – USA, Dark Easter Metal Meeting – Germany and SWR Barroselas Metal Fest – Portugal) during spring 2023 were recorded and now find home into this “Resurrection Of The Flesh – Triumph Of Death Live, 2023”. I’m sure everyone when listening to classics such as “Satanic Rites” or “Apocalyptic Raids” never thought it would be possible to hear some of those songs live and maybe this is one of the things that gave HELLHAMMER their magic. HELLHAMMER are meant to be considered a cult band that opened the road to all kinds of extreme music. When I first heard about TRIUMPH OF DEATH I wasn’t that convinced, but I have to admit that listening to ‘Massacra’, ‘Messiah’, ‘Visions Of Mortality’ or ‘Triumph Of Death’ (or every song on this live album) gave me some goosebumps! I really enjoyed the fact that Tom G. Warrior was able to maintain the underground / rude sound of HELLHAMMER in a live dimension but with a great recording and production. A big shout out to Mathieu and Wey since they gave their touch, with due respect to the original parts. Jamie Lee Cussigh was able to elevate the bass part and gave even more power to the whole recording. Every time Fischer puts something to press it is always a great product. This time the false pass couldn’t have been behind the corner since HELLHAMMER have always been considered as an untouchable masterpiece, but in this project and in this live album everything is done in order to tribute the work of some young Swiss that has inspired over 40 years of musicians. This is a must have! For more information, make sure to check: www.triumphofdeath.net, www.noiserecords.net, www.bmg.com

“This has got to be the grossest, most appalling pile of shit in metallic history… it serves as a testament to the worst group in history…” This is what Dave Constable wrote about HELLHAMMER’s “Apocalyptic Raids” EP in Metal Forces magazine back in 1984. Around the same time an old friend of mine was making fun of the description “Hellish Crossfire On Wooden Coffins” next to drummer Denial Fiend on the “Apocalyptic Raids” EP… To him it sounded more like “Dead Fish On Buckets”… Well, I couldn’t care less and wasn’t impressed by all the negative comments at all, because after the release of their “Satanic Rites” demo a year earlier, HELLHAMMER quickly had become one of my alltime favorite bands. I can’t recall how often I played those songs and they never lost their magic to me, not even after forty years now. “HELLHAMMER will never return and will never be reformed. It is absolutely impossible to reform a band so closely linked to a very specific and unique period in time.” These were the words of founding member Tom Gabriel Warrior and I totally respected that. His old friend and longtime parter in crime, Martin Eric Ain, had sadly passed away in October 2017, so a reunion of the band’s original core was out of the question anyway. But when in 2019 the idea came up at least to perform HELLHAMMER songs live after all those years, I was surprised and excited at the same time. And as a die hard fan, I also had mixed emotions about it of course. On one hand I was really curious to finally hear the songs live after all those years, but on the other hand I was also worried that my expectations would probably be way too high and that I could only dislike the result. So, to use a different name for the band and to perform them with other musicians than the current TRIPTYKON line-up, was definitely a wise decision. Fast forward to 2023. In the meantime TRIUMPH OF DEATH had played countless shows at various big festivals and even recorded material for a live album, which we are talking about here. Instead of using one entire show, you get a mixture of material from Hell’s Heroes Festival (Houston, Texas), Dark Easter Metal Meeting (Munich, Germany) and SWR Barroselas Festival (Barroselas, Portugal). The setlist consists of tracks from the “Triumph Of Death” and “Satanic Rites” demos, as well as the “Apocalyptic Raids” EP, so it definitely covers the band’s most important tracks. Unfortunately though the track ‘Satanic Rites’ itself is missing, and it seems it wasn’t played anywhere else either, which is kinda sad. And how does it all sound now? Well, it’s pretty obvious right from the start that the musical skills of all current members of TRIUMPH OF DEATH are way too good to recapture the amateurish sounding, yet magical old material. The first thing you’ll notice are the drums, which sound a lot heavier and tighter now. Drummer Tim Iso Wey and bass player Jamie Lee Cussigh create a solid backbone for the band, which especially ‘Blood Insanity’ benefits from a lot. Great bass sound here. The overall still very unique guitar sound is very heavy (they played the shows with a second guitar player) and as a result of the better musicianship some of the songs tend to sound closer to early CELTIC FROST now. Tom’s vocal delivery has become more varied over the years and therefore drifts away from the original versions very often. Too often for my taste, because the way he originally performed the songs, was always a big part of HELLHAMMER’s magic to me. That unfortunately also results in the fact, that the band’s most doomy track, ‘Triumph Of Death’, with Tom’s unforgettable, impressive tortured performance, lost quite a bit of its original brilliance now. On ‘Blood Insanity’ guitarist André Mathieu takes over the lead vocals and he also shares this duty with Tom on ‘Decapitator’ and ‘Crucifixion’. This is really a cool idea, since original bass player Steve “Savage Damage” Warrior did the same on the old demo versions. A surprise was definitely that ‘Visions Of Mortality’ is included in the setlist, a song that was only recorded for the CELTIC FROST debut “Morbid Tales”, after HELLHAMMER was already history again. So, to sum it up: it’s absolutely great that all of these songs got dusted off for the live shows again, since they have become eternal classics over the years, and the whole band definitely did a very cool job and had fun with it. But at the end of the day, the narrow minded me still prefers the original versions. Turning the clock back forty years has never been an easy task. “Resurrection Of The Flesh” is available as a digibook CD and several cool vinyl editions. More info you will find at: www.triumphofdeath.net, www.noiserecords.net, www.bmg.com

When I heard that Tom G. Warrior finally decided to perform the legendary songs of his first band HELLHAMMER live on stage, I was quite a bit excited. Yet this project turned out to be a tribute band with only one original member, using the moniker TRIUMPH OF DEATH (probably the band’s most formative song) instead of the original name. But at least the remaining HELLHAMMER member is the one that defined the sound of the band with his way of playing and singing. There are bands out there with less important original members that use a well known moniker. But that’s not the point to discuss here, so let us return to the year 1984. Yours truly discovered HELLHAMMER very early at the age of 14, a few months after the band’s only record “Apocalyptic Raids”, a four song EP, was released. But this record was a real blast – I never heard something that extreme before! The advertisement of the record company said: “HELLHAMMER make VENOM sound like the BEE GEES.” With all due respect to the godfathers of Black Metal, there was at least a little bit of truth about these bold (and tongue-in-cheek) words. The simple, but powerful, slightly punkish riffs, the sheer devilish energy and the harsh, sometimes even sick vocals made an impression on me that lasts until this day. As I haven’t had the chance yet to see TRIUMPH OF DEATH on stage, this live album (which, by the way, was already planned to be released when the band started) is a chance to find out if I missed anything. Well, I guess I haven’t missed too much. After listening to “Resurrection Of The Flesh” for the first time, I was really disappointed, as these recordings don’t really have the same spirit, the same satanic energy as the original recordings. The vocals of Tom Warrior are not as sick and insane as in the days of HELLHAMMER. Of course I gave the album a few more turns and finally made peace with “Resurrection Of The Flesh”. On the one hand, Tom is forty years older now, his technical abilities, both in singing and playing, increased a lot and that’s one thing you recognize when you listen to the songs here, even though he tried to keep at least the guitar playing very close to the original. And on the other hand, there is one simple fact: this band is not HELLHAMMER, but TRIUMPH OF DEATH. With this in mind, I started to enjoy “Resurrection Of The Flesh” at least a good bit in the long run. Especially the 2023 versions of the demo songs are quite interesting, yet I always prefer the originals. But I still am a bit wary of the songs from “Apocalyptic Raids” (which means the whole recording session) as these songs were, are and will always be masterpieces of extreme music that in my opinion have to sound like they sounded in 1984. Call me old geezer, call me conservative, but that’s my feeling about these songs. It’s especially my all time favourite song (well, one of them at least) ‘Triumph Of Death’ that I am confused about. I might accept the version here as a well done, very heavy cover version, but not as a 2023 version of the original sick and insane song. Thus I still am a bit uncertain about “Resurrection Of The Flesh”, but there’s one thing I am sure about: if I want to get the real HELLHAMMER, I will prefer the originals over TRIUMPH OF DEATH. So much for my two cents on “Resurrection Of The Flesh”, find out more at www.triumphofdeath.net, www.noiserecords.net or www.bmg.com