HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE - The August Engine
October 3, 2003, 21 years ago
(Cruz Del Sur)
A San Francisco band with a complicated web of pasts, Hammers Of Misfortune have one album (The Bastard) to their name, before recording this masterpiece of unexplored metal dementia through '01 and '02. The band's alien yet olden vibe pulls you in right from the start, The August Engine sounding like a cross between the NWOBHM and Jasonic-era Voivod, with melodies, acoustic respites and suspensions of belief right out of the curmudgeonly Animals album by Pink Floyd. Hell, throw in old school doom and accessible Death Angel to that arcane mix as well. Tracks rock hard and importantly, with a deft percentage of Nicko-frantic chaos to render them organic, live-like and unpredictable. All the vocals are slightly eccentric, and dual female and male voices are used to sumptuous effect, upon lyrics that are enigmatic like the mystical penetrations from Chris Goss. The end result is a singularly unique sound that is in effect a psychedelic version of the most golden moments from Maiden; epic yes, but completely and firmly at a high artistic level that never evokes the cheese of power metal. Entirely something new, and entirely something creatively masterful.
