Review by Drew on September 7, 2016.

After giving the Bloody Hammers Lovely Sort of Death a few spins in my CD player, I’m still at a loss as to where to begin with this album. If you've never heard of Bloody Hammers before, I’ll try to give you a sense of the type of band they are within this review. Bloody Hammers is a two person American duo band from Transylvania County, North Carolina with Devallia (Keyboards/Synthesizer) and Anders Manga (Vocals, Bass, Guitars, Synthesizer) who founded the band back in 2012. Their genre or genres cover quite a variety of music including Gothic Rock, Doom Metal, and Psychedelic Rock, which, in my opinion, is part of the problem with this album as it doesn’t quite have a concrete identity.

When you first look at the album without even listening to it and consider the cover art, lyrics, and pictures within the booklet as a whole, you think to yourself, "I'm in for a brutal treat!" Sadly, though, Lovely Sort of Death, falls flat and comes off about as brutal as Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. The cover art features a old picture of seven naked women with one of them in the center wearing a goat head as the center piece. All the other women are staring at her in admiration. The booklet inside features various pictures of the band members and other pictures of the naked women. The booklet also features lyrics for all the songs as well.

I will say, the lyrics for each song on, Lovely Sort of Death, are actually really good; however, they way they are delivered with the music waters them down a bit and doesn't really do the album justice, which is a shame because this album has so much potential. I think Bloody Hammers is trying too hard to be more of a side show rather than a serious band because the music really sounds more 80's-esque to me and more of a novelty rather than being a band I can take seriously. If I had to pick one song on, Lovely Sort of Death, that is even remotely good that I could connect to emotionally, it would be the very first track, 'Bloodletting on the Kiss,' which is probably the strongest track on the album while all the other songs sound generic and forgettable.

Honestly, Lovely Sort of Death, and Bloody Hammers as a band is really disappointing. Most of the ingredients are there for them to be a superb band; however, the delivery and music lacks depth and really doesn't move me in any way or another. This is a band that I will not actively seek out to listen to, but their music is palatable enough to listen to if one happens to come across it on the radio or happens by chance to be at one of their live shows. With all this being said, Lovely Sort of Death, still deserves respect as both Devallia and Anders Manga put hard work and effort into the album. While it's not a brutal album as I think it should be, it's still listenable even if it happens to be forgettable, which is why my rating is a little above the middle. This is an album you may listen to only once or twice and put the CD on your shelf and go on to the next one.

Rating: 6 out of 10