There seems to be no end to the rawness, the pure flaming evil eyes watching, and the sense to thrash the soul with unbound violence influences by the fires of the heated underground. I can go all night long with inflaming adjectives, but I think that I will stop right here. Every Metal subgenre has its raw side, or what I think it is called its even lower than underground side. DEATHHAMMER from Norway didn't care to sound polished, compressed and clean. They wanted their sound to be raw, old that would actually prove their passions to the soreness of their local scene's Black Metal fathers of the 90s. However, DEATHHAMMER is not a Black Metal band and surely aren't connected to the frost their fathers manifested in the lives of their followers. They call themselves Thrash but they are actually an untamed, burning bright Speed / Heavy Metal band bearing the voices of the underworld in their mouths.

"Onward To The Pits" is the band's second album, and their first under the underground machine label of Hell Headbangers Records after being connected to another self made black secretive sect in the image of Witches Brew. While I listened to their music I wasn't even close to be surprised of what I will find. DEATHHAMMER has been expressing themselves even wildly that ancient craftsmen like BATHORY, BULLDOZER and the holy German Thrash triangle. Their thrashed up speediness, which along with the simplicity of their fretwork, made it quite a promising journey through darkness even if the production that recorded, mixed and mastered their new endeavor wasn't as welcoming, even for a group that wanted to sound unprocessed and bad in the first place. Nonetheless, with all the promise that might be held under the duo of DEATHHAMMER, sometimes it was hard to stand the same speeding bullet chases. I like hell rides such as the ones that this album presents, but every so often there has to be something different, and I would include the not so nifty vocal work in as well. Tell me, how far long can you stand that monotonic raspy screaming voice? Maybe Black Metal growls would have been better?

Furthermore, there were moments where I wished they would not play such static riffing that have been the food of everyone for years. At least I could thank that they shared some fine classic type solos and even a few NWOBHM moments like oriented beats and rhythms that showed me a different side of their black features. Check out "Fullmoon Sorcery", "Final Black Mass" and "Seduced By The Flames" for the best of what DEATHHAMMER did. Something for a future hope maybe? We will see about that... Also I would do something about the drum recording on the last instrumental "Onward To The Pits", the base drum work is terrible and has plenty of inaccuracies that plenty kill the track that has a good potential.

DEATHHAMMER made a sort of horned honour to raw Black Metal but with indications of Speed / Heavy Metal. I liked the sound direction of the band as it really shaped their being as a raw endeavour that won't surrender to the developments that has been inserted to studios for years. Musically, I think that even the raw stuff can be played better and a little bit more intelligent.