In a new interview with music writer Joel Gausten, Anders Manga of goth/metal band Bloody Hammers discusses the group’s new album A Lovely Sort Of Death, his relationship with his record label and his love of cult psychedelic rocker Roky Erickson. Some excerpts from the chat appear below:
 
Gausten: Bloody Hammers was initially a recording project, but it’s really blossomed over the years into its own living, breathing entity. What has been the key to keeping Bloody Hammers growing as the years have gone on?
 
Anders. "It’s still just me, you know? I do have some guys who play with me, but they’re like five hours from me. They’re in other bands, so it’s just me. I don’t know if it’s blossoming or not! (laughs) I’m too close to it to know, but I hope people dig it. Ultimately, I just wrote songs to entertain myself. It’s just like a hobby of mine to write songs, and I try not to think, ‘Let me write songs that other people will like,’ because it’ll just be contrived. I just go wherever I like. Maybe some fans won’t like it, and some newer people will like it. I just go with whatever’s coming out naturally. I think that’s important."
 
Gausten: This is your second album on Napalm. Initially in your career, you were very much an independent guy. Now that you’re working a second time with Napalm, how has that relationship impacted what you’re able to do with your music now?
 
Anders. "Well, we wouldn’t we talking without them. I think it’s more the PR side of it. I usually write stuff and just throw it on the internet and walk away (laughs). If people stumbled on it, they stumbled on it; if they didn’t, they didn’t. I did the first Bloody Hammers album just for fun. I put it on Bampcamp, I walked away and went about my day. The next day, Soulseller Records out of Amsterdam wrote me and they wanted to put it out on vinyl. I never had anything on vinyl. I was like, ‘Fuckin’ of course!’ So that was cool. I can see how it’s much better to have a label behind you than not as far as other people discovering what you’re doing." 
 
Gausten: I know you’re a Roky Erickson fan. What was your experience in discovering him, and what led you to cover his work and follow what he’s done over the years?
 
Anders: "I can remember when I was a teenager vinyl collector going through records. At the time, I was just discovering The Doors and ’60s stuff. When you’re a teenager, all the stuff that comes before you makes you feel like a kid in a candy store to discover it…I got some 13th Floor Elevators stuff, but I had no idea about the Aliens stuff. It was just kind of underground; I wasn’t exposed to it. This was before the Internet; finding out stuff like that wasn’t as easy as now. When I finally did find out… man, that stuff! I love that stuff more than the Elevators. I named my band after a Roky Erickson song! I was just like, ‘Fuck. What am I gonna call this thing?’ I’m listening to Roky and go, ‘Bloody Hammer.’ That sounds cool; that’s got a ring to it. Let’s call it that.’ I assumed it was gonna sell on Bandcamp and rot and three or four people were gonna download it or something. I had no idea (laughs). But he was just a tremendous influence on my music. I may not sound anything like Roky Erickson, but I don’t sound anything like a lot of my influences."
 
The full interview is available at this location.

Bloody Hammers are streaming the new song “Messalina”, featured on their new album, Lovely Sort Of Death, out on August 5th via Napalm Records. Listen below.

"This album is certainly the darkest album I've ever recorded", states Bloody Hammers mastermind Anders Manga, who stays on the dark path to the nether world and opens the seven gates with Lovely Sort Of Death.

Lovely Sort Of Death tracklisting:

“Bloodletting On The Kiss”
“Lights Come Alive”
“The Reaper Comes”
“Messalina”
“Infinite Gaze To The Sun”
“Stoke The Fire”
“Ether”
“Shadow Out Of Time”
“Astral Traveler”
“Catastrophe”

Deluxe Edition Bonus CD:
“Altar Of Fear”
“The Shrine”
“Halloween”
“At Dawn They Sleep”

“Messalina”:

“Bloodletting On The Kiss” video:

“The Reaper Comes” video:

Formats:

Limited 4 Panel Digipack CD
1LP Gatefold edition
Strictly Limited 4 Page Digipack & Bonus CD - 300 worldwide
Strictly Limited 1LP Gatefold & Bonus CD - 200 worldwide

Anders Manga on Lovely Sort Of Death: "We live high on a mountain with a steep treacherous driveway so when any snowfall happens, we're stuck for days. Luckily, as a result of all the isolation, my songwriting mood ended up much more on the darker side than previous records. The songs are heavy, but not always heavy. I wanted to create more atmosphere than before. It's a stylistically varied record, which I'm very proud of. I used the Moog more on this album, which blends well with the heavy guitar fuzz tones. It's definitely my favourite album so far in every way."

Bloody Hammers are a duo who hail from the mountains of Transylvania County, NC. The project and first self-titled release was originally formed as a studio only project with vocalist/songwriter, Anders Manga producing and recording all instruments. Soon Anders decided to take the project from the studio to a real band by recruiting his wife Devallia to play keyboards and other local musicians for live shows.

In late 2013 Anders was approached by one of Europe's largest rock and metal labels, Napalm Records. In 2014 Napalm released Bloody Hammers' third official album titled Under Satan's Sun. Through the snowy winter of 2015, Anders began writing again, but this time took a much darker and atmospheric direction. For the first time he added thick Moog sounds along with his normal fuzzed-out guitar, with more atmospheric keys provided by Devallia. They emerged from the winter with Lovely Sort Of Death, their darkest album yet.

(Photo - Bloody Hammers Facebook)