Review by Felix on July 13, 2023.

A typical story: an extreme metal band releases two albums with unleashed songs. It modifies its style - a completely intrinsically motivated process, of course - and records an uninspired third full-length. Nobody likes this band anymore, exitus. This is where the story ends.

You say this is a very bad tale? I agree. But extreme metal musicians must be aware of the risk that a change in style does not automatically bring success. Demolition Hammer can confirm this statement, because "Time Bomb" was definitely a disappointment for their old fans and the new target group... just did not exist. The band was in search of a chimera. Nobody needed ten mid-tempo tracks that lacked of fury and uncompromising violence. Indeed, the musical approach was still violent, but the dudes had made too many compromises. The lead vocals were still hostile and the riffing did not lack of meanness, but velocity was missing. Century Media had given the drummer some tranquilizers - and they worked excellently. Or did he suffer from an allergy to his own snare drum. Speculations aside: short rapid eruptions, for example during "Mindrot" or at the end of the closer, were not enough to build a solid connection to their first works.

Due to the robust and pretty nasty guitars, Demolition Hammer did not deliver a great pile of shit. There are worse albums in the history of (thrash) metal, no doubt about it. Yet until the date of "Time Bomb", the band seemed to become the next big thing for thrashers, a bulwark against the zeitgeist of the early nineties. Forget it, "Time Bomb" sang another song. Due to the lack of dynamic, it feels as if the album has a duration of roughly an hour, although it clocks in after 37 ambivalent minutes. The groovy elements, the new detail in Demolition Hammer's sound, do not prevent boredom. They are rather the cause for it. All these dragging riffs spread the same vibes and to add insult to injury, some of them sound very similar to each other. It is revealing that exactly the cover version ("Mongoloid") adds a slightly different flavour. Yet a different flavour is not necessarily a better one. As a result, the full-length was a severe blow to the old fans.

Two or three high speed thrashers with sharp, brutal riffs could have worked wonders, but they just do not exist. Thus, actually good songs like "Power Struggle" are in bad company. "Missing: 5/7/89", for example, is the bitter yet effective medicine for those nutcases who want to get rid of their weakness for thrash - no fury, no velocity, no traction. The strong production does not matter in this context, because a wrong musical concept remains wrong, even if it is presented in a technically masterful implementation. I do not know which guy had the idea that Demolition Hammer had to go with the trend. I just know that he was an imbecile. Only the title of the album was well chosen. It was just sad that the musicians did not realise the crucial fact: this "Time Bomb" killed nobody else than the band itself.

Rating: 6.2 out of 10