Gallhammer () were a Japanese

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

group that drew on

blackened crust Crust punk (also known as crust or stenchcore) is a form of music influenced by English punk rock and extreme metal. The style, which evolved in the early 1980s in England, often has songs with dark and pessimistic lyrics that linger on politic ...

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

and

crust punk Crust punk (also known as crust or stenchcore) is a form of music influenced by English punk rock and extreme metal. The style, which evolved in the early 1980s in England, often has songs with dark and pessimistic lyrics that linger on politic ...

. They formed in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

in 2003 and released three studio albums. The current group lineup is Vivian Slaughter (vocals, bass guitar) and Risa Reaper (vocals, drums); the original lineup included Mika Penetrator (vocals, guitar).

Biography

Their first recording, a free demo tape limited to 30 copies, was distributed at their first gig at Koiwa Death Fest Vol.2, around March 2003, in Japan. In July of the same year, the self-titled demo was released. By April of the following year, they had released another demo, ''Endless Nauseous Days'', and were working towards their debut full-length CD. The 8-track album, entitled ''

Gloomy Lights ''Gloomy Lights'' is the first full album of the Japanese metal band Gallhammer Gallhammer () were a Japanese extreme metal group that drew on blackened crust, black metal, doom metal and crust punk. They formed in Tokyo in 2003 and released ...

'', was released in November 2004 through Hello From The Gutter Records. In January 2006, Gallhammer was signed to

Peaceville Records Peaceville Records is a British independent heavy metal record label. The label was founded by Paul "Hammy" Halmshaw (of the bands Instigators and Civilised Society) in Dewsbury, England in 1987, who was also a one-time drummer of Sore Throat ...

, on the recommendation of

Darkthrone Darkthrone is a Norwegian extreme metal band from Kolbotn, Akershus. Formed in 1986 as a death metal band named Black Death, in 1991 Darkthrone embraced a black metal style influenced by Bathory and Celtic Frost and became one of the leadin ...

. A CD/DVD pack, entitled ''The Dawn of...'', was released, containing a CD, demo and rehearsal footage, and a DVD recording of Gallhammer performing in

Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

and five concerts in

. Gallhammer released their second full-length album, ''

Ill Innocence ''Ill Innocence'' is the second full album of the Japanese band Gallhammer. It was released in 2007, and helped secure the band's recognition within the extreme metal subculture. Track listing #"At the Onset of the Age of Despair" (Vivian Slau ...

'', through

in September 2007, followed by a European tour. In March 2008, they did a second European tour. They also played at the

Inferno Metal Festival Inferno Metal Festival is an annual extreme metal festival that takes place every year during Easter in Oslo, Norway. The festival was founded by Borknagar guitarist Jens F. Ryland in cooperation with Radar Booking in 2001 and takes place at Rockef ...

in June. For their third LP ''The End'' released in 2011 their guitarist, Mika Penetrator, was no longer present, but nevertheless the band chose to continue as a bass-drums duo. For

allmusic.com AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

´s reviewer Phil Freeman "this has changed their musical style quite a bit; the thrashing punk metal of 2004's ''Gloomy Lights'' and 2007's ''Ill Innocence'' can still be heard on songs like "Rubbish CG202" and "Entropy G35," but tracks like "Aberration," "Sober," and the title cut are totally different—slow, sludgy death marches that owe more to Flipper and

the Melvins ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

than black metal." Gallhammer appeared in

Nocturno Culto Ted Skjellum (born 4 March 1972), also known by the stage name Nocturno Culto, is a Norwegian musician best known as the vocalist, lead guitarist, and partial bassist (shared with Fenriz) of the influential black metal band Darkthrone. He has bee ...

's film ''The Misanthrope: The Existence of Solitude and Chaos''.

Influences

In an interview with ''Contraband Candy'', Vivian Slaughter cited

Hellhammer Hellhammer was a Swiss metal band from Nürensdorf, active from 1982 to 1984. Although the band's sound and style were heavily criticized and poorly reviewed during their active years, they have been widely praised in retrospect and are often re ...

Celtic Frost Celtic Frost () was a Swiss extreme metal band from Zürich. They are known for their strong influence on the development of extreme metalBukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal''. Barnes & Noble Publishing, 2003. p.43 and avant-ga ...

Amebix Amebix were an English crust punk band. Formed as the Band with No Name, the band's original run was from 1978 to 1987, during which time they released two EPs and three albums. The group reunited in 2008, released another full-length album ...

and

Burzum Burzum (; ) was a Norwegian music project founded by Varg Vikernes in 1991. Although Burzum never played live performances, it became a part of the early Norwegian black metal scene and is considered one of the most influential acts in black m ...

as Gallhammer's main musical influences. Slaughter is also a passionate fan of

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

,"Hard of Hearing", Terrorizer No. 171, June 2008, p. 56-57. and once called Corrupted "the greatest band in the world". She says she was first inspired to play music after seeing

Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in 1981 in Meriden, West Midlands. None of the band's original members has been in the group since 1986. But since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch ...

and

Painkiller An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It i ...

in concert.Interview with Rockers NYC

Access date: October 24, 2008. Lisa Reaper is a fan of old school

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often ch ...

krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...

Kraftwerk Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...

and

Laibach Laibach () is a Slovenian avant-garde music group associated with the industrial, martial, and neo-classical genres. Formed in the mining town of Trbovlje (at the time in Yugoslavia) in 1980, Laibach represents the musical wing of the Neue ...

. The band's other influences include

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after attend ...

Antisect Antisect are a punk rock band based in London, England. Their roots are in hardcore/ anarcho punk and metal. Formed in Daventry in 1982, their debut album, ''In Darkness There Is No Choice'', was released in 1983. 1985's follow-up EP ''Out fr ...

Carcass Carcass or Carcase (both pronounced ) may refer to: *Dressed carcass, the body of a livestock animal ready for butchery, after removal of skin, visceral organs, head, feet etc. *Carrion, the decaying dead body of an animal or human being *The str ...

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American 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 ...

and Scorn.Interview with ''Cosmic Lava'', October 2004

Access date: October 26, 2008. The group is also inspired by

Japanoise , a portmanteau of "Japanese" and "noise", is the noise music scene of Japan. Nick Cain of ''The Wire'' identifies the "primacy of Japanese Noise artists like Merzbow, Hijokaidan and Incapacitants as one of the major developments in noise music s ...

and have collaborated with

Incapacitants are a Japanese noise music group formed in 1981. Initially a solo project of Toshiji Mikawa, Fumio Kosakai joined upon the project's relocation to Tokyo. The duo's stated aim is to produce "pure" noise, uninfluenced by musical ideas or even huma ...

. While the group borrows from crust and

anarcho-punk Anarcho-punk (also known as anarchist punk or peace punk) is ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, hardcor ...

, they do not identify with a particular political outlook."I never wanted to write political lyrics or sing about political topics – I just don't feel I can handle the responsibility, but me and many others in Japan were influenced by bands on

Crass Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977, who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a way of life, and a resistance movement. Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the punk s ...

Records. But the political and economic systems in Japan and the UK are very different." – Vivian Slaughter, "Hard of Hearing", Terrorizer No. 171, June 2008, p. 56-57.

Members

;Current * Vivian Slaughter – lead vocals, bass * Lisa Reaper – drums, backing vocals ;Former * Mika Penetrator – guitars, backing vocals (2003–2010)

Discography

;Studio albums *''

'' (2003) *''

'' (2007) *''The End'' (2011) ;Other albums *''The First Reh-Tape'' (demo) (2003) *''Gallhammer'' (demo) (2003) *''Endless Nauseous Days'' (demo) (2004) *''Beyond The Hatred'' (EP) (2007) *''The Dawn of...'' (compilation) (2007) *''A Taste of Despair'' (EP) (2010) ;Videos *''The Dawn of...'' (2007) *''Ruin of a Church'' (2008)

References

External links

Official BlogOfficial MyspaceGallhammer
at

{{Authority control Japanese black metal musical groups Japanese doom metal musical groups Japanese crust and d-beat groups Musical groups established in 2003 All-female punk bands Japanese musical trios Musical groups from Tokyo Peaceville Records artists 2003 establishments in Japan