HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE come from San Francisco. They have released four full length albums and "17^th Street" is the fifth. They are a strange kind of a band; you cannot categorize it with a one singular genre.  I still remember "The August Engine" and "The Locust Years", they had a perfect symmetry of Folk, Blues, Progressive Rock while infusing those with old school Heavy Metal. I can't forget their exploration through psychedelic pathways following their brilliant lyrics.

"17^th Street" reminds me of "The August Engine", although it is more powerful along with the inspiring vocals of Joe Hutton, that once again shows promise. The guitarists, John Cobbett & Leila Abdul-Rauf are practically genius. Their excellent riffs strike a chord of the classic years of THIN LIZZYand IRON MAIDEN. When I am listening to "The Day The City Died", I am thinking about the type of skills to compose a track like that, to mix up THIN LIZZY's musical approach along with Ritchie Blackmore's virtuosic style.

The Heavy metal storm on "Romance Valley" looked like that Cobbett has never forgotten the SLOUGH FEG days. "Summer Tears" is a ballad full of romance with excellent piano, Blues guitar riffs in the vein of Gary Moore and lovely vocals. The next tracks, "Grey Wednesday" and "Going Somewhere", are the proper ways to finish this album. The first one is Heavy Metal thunder with powerful riffs and the second is a little bit slower with Progressive hints within.

HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE didn't disappoint me with their previous releases; "17^th Street" didn't change anything. I recommend this album to everyone, a true masterpiece!