''Epidemic of Violence'' is the second album by American

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band

Demolition Hammer Demolition Hammer is an American thrash metal band from the Bronx, New York, active from 1986 to 1995 and again since 2016. To date, the band has released three full-length studio albums: ''Tortured Existence'' (1991), ''Epidemic of Violence'' ...

. It was released in early 1992 to critical acclaim and is considered a cult classic in the thrash metal and

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

genres. ''Epidemic of Violence'' uses a

Michael Whelan Michael Whelan (born 29 June 1950) is an Americans, American artist of imaginative Realism (arts), realism. For more than 30 years, he worked as an illustrator, specializing in science fiction and fantasy cover art. Since the mid-1990s, he has ...

painting for its cover artwork: ''Lovecraft's Nightmare B''. The first half of the painting, ''Lovecraft's Nightmare A'', was used for

Obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

's ''

Cause of Death In law, medicine, and statistics, cause of death is an official determination of conditions resulting in a human's death, which may be recorded on a death certificate. A cause of death is determined by a medical examiner. The cause of death is ...

''.

Reception and legacy

In 2017,

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...

placed ''Epidemic of Violence'' at number 49 on their "Top 50 Thrash Metal Albums" list. Eduardo Rivadavia noted how Demolition Hammer managed to sustain their thrash metal sound during the rise of

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

, comparing them to other bands in the thrash genre who were going for a more commercial sound. Loudwire also named ''Epidemic of Violence'' the best thrash metal album of 1992 and called it a cult classic. On June 24, 2017, Demolition Hammer performed ''Epidemic of Violence'' in its entirety at the Gramercy Theater in New York City in celebration of the album's 25th anniversary.

Track listing

2008 re-release live bonus tracks

Personnel

Demolition Hammer * Steve Reynolds – lead vocals, bass * James Reilly – guitar, backing vocals * Derek Sykes – guitar, backing vocals * Vinny Daze – drums, backing vocals Production * Produced by Tom Soares and Demolition Hammer * Mixed by Tom Soares and Demolition Hammer * Recorded and Engineered by Tom Soares * Red "Lunchbox" Bortolotti – assistant engineer * Mastered by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk, New York

References

External links

Encyclopaedia Metallum page
1992 albums Demolition Hammer albums Century Media Records albums Albums with cover art by Michael Whelan {{1990s-metal-album-stub