Review by Felix on October 4, 2026.

Sometimes things do not turn out as they should. When I check out a band called Satan's Hammer (!) from South America (!!) that presents its debut (!!!) with a shabby, horribly amateurish artwork (!!!!), I expect a brutal and adventurous ride through the most dangerous regions of blackened thrash metal. However, these guys from Colombia act pretty controlled, not lame or harmless, but the wild fire of former black thrashers from this part of the earth (just remember "Morbid Visions") is not blazing.

Already the opener "El Despertar De Satán" is a surprise in view of the soft entry it offers. I miss a higher degree of spontaneity, impulsiveness and explosiveness. Maybe this is due to the somewhat harmless production. Okay, it does not neglect the bass guitar, but the album in its entity sounds neither powerless nor really aggressive. Especially the guitars lack violence and Maiden-esque intermezzos ("Fuerzas Del Mal") appear counterproductive. Of course, mid-tempo rhythms are no sin per se, not even for South American thrashers, but the guitar lines are slightly expressionless as well from time to time. Therefore tracks like the band anthem do not develop a strong aroma and let me be honest, that's disappointing. The somehow overproduced vocals – with a lot of reverb on it – do not make things better, because they fail to convey a demonic aura or a natural brutality. On the other hand, as soon as the band picks up speed, the tracks gain density and coherence (even the band anthem). One can see that Satan's Hammer have a certain potential. For example, the songs do not suffer from a lack of dynamics when it comes to their high speed sections. Moreover, the guys act authentically. They do not seem to lose many thoughts about their commercial perspectives. I am almost sure they do not lack courage. Nevertheless, somehow they cannot make the statements they should make. Perhaps they need to work on their songwriting skills?

The short, simple yet effective cover song "Comandos Malditos" shows that it is no rocket science to create a cool metal grenade. But their own compositions, which are in no way progressively designed as well, do not reach this compactness. "Morturio Ritual" underlines this, because it needs some almost boring minutes of lackluster guitar lines until an outbreak of aggression lends the track a good ending at least. Sometimes the slow-moving sequences try to create a spooky atmosphere, for example in the "Hell Awaits" tribute paying intro of "Nocturno Espectro Siniestro", but this remains more or less the only case where this approach works – and this is one of the reasons why this song marks one of the rare highlights of this debut. "Melodía Infernal" with its restless character is another one. So all in all, "El Despertar De Satán" not bad, but on a flooded market it's hard not to drown. On the other hand, there is no shortcut to success and the first steps have been taken. Perhaps Satan will swing the hammer with some percent more power next time and everything is fine.

Rating: 6.4 out of 10