HAMMERS RULE: "After the Bomb" MLP
Metal Enterprises 1985
Blade Duncan - vocals & screams
Spunki M. - all guitars
"Hollywood" Henley - bass
Chuck Hohn - drums

Rarity:
LP (Ger-Pres.): 1,5
MLP (US-Pres.): 1,5

(GERMAN PRESSING,
Metal Enterprises 1985)
Kamikaze
Pool Of Piranhas
Hammers Rule
Castle Walls
Stop The World
Prelude/
Calm Before The Storm After The Bomb
She's A Rocker
If You Only Knew
Set Me Free

(US PRESSING,
Web Records 1985)
Prelude/
Calm before the Strom
After the Bomb
Kamikaze
Stop the World
If you only Knew

The principle of operation of the weapon of a (war)hammer isn't sharp and cutting, but it's stub and pounding, leaving only a grotesquely deformed figure of your enemy behind, doomed to die in pain. And that's just like HAMMERS RULE sound like: pounding and baneful. To tell the whole truth (it's always my intention!) I have to admit that there are exceptions on the album. While you can listen to the first side of the LP without hesitations, the second side is contaminated by several inappropriate songs like >She's a rocker< with a clearly simple and commercial rockin' attitude. These tunes display a total disturbance, for they are indeed not too bad, but don't fit the spirit of HAMMERS RULE, neither in musical nor in lyrical respect. After all let me come back to the positive aspects, which (fortunately) are dominating. Blade Duncan being responsible for vocals & screams (as it is said on the backcover) really sounds like the wielder of the hammer. His out of the way voice carries a roughness, above all visible in the screaming parts. He doesn't blow you away with mindbreaking high screams, but he HAS the perhaps most important quality of a metal singer: he's original. Okay, and what about the songs themselves? They're varied with great refrains! Listen to >Pool of piranhas< or >Hammers rule< and you'll know what I mean. Exceptional and therefore mentionable is >Castle walls<, an atmospheric tune which I'd like to play loud in a castle ruin. Also better than only good is the title track, telling of a ordinary future vision of life on earth >After the bomb<. Although in the intro there is a text passage like "mankind must put an end to war or war WILL put an end to mankind", you shouldn't take this for serious as kind of political message. It's just the hanger to transport an end time theme. In this context I mention another text passage ("show no mercy, watch them die, cut their throats...") where you can feel the hate and burning rage of metal. Did I tell you yet that I love the cover artwork. Well, it's true. Very trashy and the artist didn't have too good skills. In other words: perfect! Of course this is no reason to buy the album, but if you've read this review attentively you'll see: it's another one!
Review by Manuel Kempf
*The review has been written for the GERMAN PRESSING which features a collection of tracks from both HAMMERS RULE records "After the Bomb" and "Show no Mercy"! For the tracklist of the original US Pressing look to the left.