Hellhammer

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title: "Hellhammer" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["swiss-heavy-metal-musical-groups", "swiss-black-metal-musical-groups", "swiss-death-metal-musical-groups", "swiss-thrash-metal-musical-groups", "musical-groups-established-in-1982", "musical-groups-disestablished-in-1984", "century-media-records-artists", "1982-establishments-in-switzerland", "1984-disestablishments-in-switzerland", "noise-records-artists", "english-language-swiss-musical-groups"] description: "Swiss extreme metal band" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellhammer" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Swiss extreme metal band ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox musical artist"]

Field	Value
name	Hellhammer
image	Hellhammer (band).jpg
origin	Nürensdorf, Switzerland
genre	Black metal, thrash metal
years_active	1982–1984
label	Noise, Century Media
spinoffs	Celtic Frost
website
module	{{Infobox
child	yes
headerstyle	background:#b0c4de
data2	[[File:Hellhammer Logo.svg
::

| name = Hellhammer | image = Hellhammer (band).jpg | caption = | origin = Nürensdorf, Switzerland | genre = Black metal, thrash metal | years_active = 1982–1984 | label = Noise, Century Media | spinoffs = Celtic Frost | website = | current_members = | past_members =

• Thomas Gabriel Fischer
• Urs Sprenger
• Pete Stratton
• Jörg Neubart
• Martin Eric Ain | module = {{Infobox | child = yes | header1 = | headerstyle = background:#b0c4de | data2 = [[File:Hellhammer Logo.svg|220px]] Hellhammer was a Swiss extreme 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 regarded as a key influence on black metal. In June 1984, Hellhammer disbanded but two of its members soon formed the influential extreme metal band Celtic Frost.

History

Musical career

Inspired by the music of Black Sabbath, Venom, Raven, Motörhead and Angel Witch, guitarist/vocalist Thomas Gabriel Fischer (a.k.a. "Tom Warrior"), bassist/vocalist Urs Sprenger (a.k.a. "Savage Damage" and "Steve Warrior") from the band Grave Hill, and drummer Pete Stratton (Peter Ebneter) formed Hammerhead (later Hellhammer) in May 1982. Although Fischer "was not into punk at all," he was "blown away" by the Discharge records Why and Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing, which profoundly influenced his music from then on. As he noted, a lack of extreme metal at the time meant that fans of Venom and Motörhead often had to resort to punk bands for similar sounds. GBH and Anti-Nowhere League also proved influential.

After the exit of Stratton and drummer Jörg Neubart (a.k.a. "Denial Fiend", "Bloodhunter" and "Bruce Day", from the band Moorhead) joining in the ranks in autumn 1982, Hellhammer attempted to find proper rehearsal spaces, which proved difficult due to either exceedingly high rents or unavailable studio hours. In June 1983, the group recorded their demo tape, Triumph of Death, for a mere $70. Despite being embarrassed by the end results, Hellhammer shipped their demo to a number of heavy metal magazines, such as Great Britain's Metal Forces; critical response toward them was generally favorable. Although rejected by the labels they sent tapes to, the band eventually caught the attention of a newcomer German label, Noise Records.

Steve Warrior was dismissed in the summer of 1983 due to lack of musical talent, and replaced first by Mike "Grim Decapitator" Owens (Mike Baum) from the band Violence. Schizo drummer Stephen Priestly from Wallisellen replaced Bruce Day in October 1983, and later in 1983 fellow Schizo member, American born Martin Eric Ain replaced Owens on bass, a change which marked the beginning of a serious and radical transformation in the band's music and lyrics. Finally still in 1983 Bruce Day rejoined to replace Priestly completing the Warrior / Ain/ Day line-up that recorded Hellhammer's only commercial release, Apocalyptic Raids in March 1984. After the EP was recorded, guitarist Vince "Dei Infernal" Caretti joined Hellhammer, after future Celtic Frost guitarist Oliver Amberg declined the offer. These changes were ultimately responsible for Fischer's and Ain's increasing perception of being limited within the confines of the purposely primitive Hellhammer vehicle. Hellhammer officially disbanded on May 11, 1984, and Fischer and Ain formed a new band under the name of Celtic Frost in June.

Post-breakup

At the dawn of the next decade Noise Records released a new version of Hellhammer's debut, retitled Apocalyptic Raids 1990 A.D. This re-issue was augmented by two tracks off the Death Metal compilation, which was "something we always wanted to, even back in '84", claimed Tom Warrior. This re-release also came with a new cover design done by Martin Ain.

In November 2007, Tom Gabriel Fischer announced that the original master tapes of Hellhammer's demos (Death Fiend, Triumph of Death, and Satanic Rites) would be released as a 2CD/3LP package, titled Demon Entrails, in February 2008 with new liner notes on the complete history of Hellhammer, unreleased photos and artwork, and all tracks remastered personally by Tom Gabriel Fischer, Martin Eric Ain and Steve Warrior. The album was released by Prowlin' Death/Century Media Records.

In 2016, both Century Media and Prowling Death Records joint released an unreleased 7" vinyl single the band originally recorded in 1983 titled Blood Insanity. Tom Gabriel Fischer explained that the band contemplated releasing material they recorded at the time of the Triumph of Death demo sessions which would contain two songs. Unfortunately, the single languished into an unrealized state until the band's split, rendering any plans for future releases redundant. Fischer went on to say that it never left his mind since then and presented the idea of releasing the single to Century Media, in which the record company agreed.

Reception and legacy

Although its former members felt proud of Hellhammer's legacy by the end of the 1980s, that was not always so. In fact, Tom Warrior feared that his prior commitment to Hellhammer could hinder the future of Celtic Frost. A 1985 Kerrang! review summed up his worst fears: "The truly execrable Hellhammer may now have turned into Celtic Frost but still suck on the big one."

Other metal publications were also skeptical of Hellhammer's musical endeavor. Metal Forces, for one, absolutely loathed the group; that started a long-lasting feud between that zine and Warrior, which kept Celtic Frost from playing in England for a couple of years. Rock Power was not fond of Hellhammer either; they considered it "the most terrible, abhorrent, and atrocious thing 'musicians' were ever allowed to record". In fact, they were "receiving miserable reviews everywhere", Warrior concluded.

Regarding the controversial status of his former band, Thomas said:

Phil Freeman of AllMusic stated: "Hellhammer was more of an after the fact legend than a band; the group released exactly six songs in any official way, and only garnered notice when frontman Thomas Gabriel Fischer (aka Thomas Gabriel Warrior) formed his next band, the avant-garde thrash act Celtic Frost."

A four-track 12" EP, Apocalyptic Raids, was released in March 1984. By that time, the band had already broken up, but the recording was one of the original black/death metal recordings, and spawned a legion of imitators, playing doom metal, thrash metal, black metal and death metal. Both Fischer and Ain later teamed up again when forming Celtic Frost in summer of 1984.

Hellhammer covers by notable bands include Napalm Death, Sepultura, Samael, Incantation, Slaughter, Behemoth, and Gallhammer. Fischer's post-Celtic Frost band, Apollyon Sun, also re-worked "Messiah".

Tom Fischer released a book in 2010 titled Only Death Is Real: An Illustrated History of Hellhammer and early Celtic Frost 1982–1985, which documents the early days of said bands. The book featured a foreword by Darkthrone guitarist Nocturno Culto and an introduction by the author Joel McIver.

Band members

Final

• Tom G. "Satanic Slaughter" Warrior (Thomas Gabriel Fischer) – guitar, lead vocals (1982–1984)
• "Slayed Necros" (Martin Eric Ain) – bass (1983–1984; died 2017)
• Bruce "Denial Fiend" Day (Jörg Neubart) – drums (1982–1984)
• Vince "Dei Infernal" Caretti (Vincent Garetti) – guitar (1984)

Previous members

• Pete Stratton (Peter Ebneter) – drums (1982)
• Steve "Savage Damage" Warrior (Urs Sprenger) – bass, vocals (1982–1983)
• Stephen "Evoked Damnator" Priestly (Stephen Gasser) – bass (1983)
• Mike "Grim Decapitator" Owens (Michael Baum) – bass (1983)

Timeline

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Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:BackingVocals value:pink legend:Backing_vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitars id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Ep value:black legend:EP id:other value:gray(0.40) legend:Demo id:bars value:gray(0.95)

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

LineData = at:06/15/1983 color:other layer:back at:07/20/1983 color:other layer:back at:12/24/1983 color:other layer:back at:03/08/1984 color:black layer:back

BarData = bar:Satanic text:"Satanic Slaughter" bar:Dei text:"Dei Infernali" bar:Savage text:"Savage Damage" bar:Evoked text:"Evoked Damnator" bar:Grim text:"Grim Decapitator" bar:Slayed text:"Slayed Necros" bar:Pete text:"Pete Stratton" bar:Denial text:"Denial Fiend"

PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Satanic from:05/01/1982 till:05/31/1984 color:vocals bar:Satanic from:05/01/1982 till:05/31/1984 color:guitar width:3 bar:Dei from:04/10/1984 till:05/31/1984 color:guitar bar:Savage from:05/01/1982 till:07/01/1983 color:bass bar:Savage from:05/01/1982 till:07/01/1983 color:BackingVocals width:3 bar:Evoked from:07/01/1983 till:09/01/1983 color:bass bar:Grim from:09/01/1983 till:12/01/1983 color:bass bar:Slayed from:12/01/1983 till:05/31/1984 color:bass bar:Pete from:05/01/1982 till:09/30/1982 color:Drums bar:Denial from:10/01/1982 till:05/31/1984 color:Drums

Discography

Demos

::data[format=table]

Year	Title
1983	Death Fiend
1983	Triumph of Death
1983	Satanic Rites
::

Studio releases

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Notes
1984	Apocalyptic Raids	EP
1984	Death Metal	Split
2016	Blood Insanity	Single
::

Compilation albums

::data[format=table]

Year	Title
2008	Demon Entrails
::

References

Sources

• Bennett, J. (2009). "Procreation of the Wicked". In: Mudrian, A. (ed.), Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces (pp. 31–47). Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press.
• Fischer, T. G. (2000). Are You Morbid? Into the Pandemonium of Celtic Frost. London: Sanctuary Publishing Limited.
• Gregori, D. (2003). "Thrash Metal or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb". Terrorizer 108: 10–14.
• Hellhammer (1990). Apocalyptic Raids 1990 A.D. [CD]. New York, NY: Futurist/Noise International.

References

1. "Hellhammer reviews, music, news - sputnikmusic".
2. (5 June 2020). "Hellhammer: The tortured black metal outcasts who created a monster".
3. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "((( Hellhammer > Overview )))".
4. Fischer (2000), p. 78.
5. Fischer (2000), p. 80.
6. Fischer (2000), pp. 62 & 64.
7. "HELLHAMMER".
8. Fischer (2000), p. 65.
9. Bennett (2009), p. 34.
10. (30 August 2019). "TOM G. WARRIOR On Celebrating HELLHAMMER With TRIUMPH OF DEATH: 'I Really Wanted To Do This Before The End Of My Days'".
11. (15 August 2019). "The Triumph of Tom G. Warrior".
12. Fischer (2000), pp. 65 & 66.
13. Fischer (2000), p. 72.
14. Fischer (2000), p. 73.
15. Fischer (2000), p. 75.
16. Warrior, Thomas Gabriel. (1990). "Apocalyptic Raids 1990 A.D.". [[Noise Records.
17. (5 July 2016). "HELLHAMMER's Previously Unreleased 'Blood Insanity' 7" Vinyl Single To See Light Of Day". [[Blabbermouth.net]].
18. Gregori (2003), p. 11.
19. Doe, Bernard. (December 2007). "'Death Fiends': A Short Biography of Hellhammer". Century Media Records.
20. "Demon Entrails - Hellhammer {{!}} Album {{!}} AllMusic".
21. Rivadavia, Eduardo. "((( Leaders Not Followers, Pt. 2 > Overview )))".
22. Loftus, Johnny. "((( Revolusongs > Overview )))".
23. "Samael – Medieval Prophecy".
24. "Incantation – Rehearsal demo".
25. "Slaughter – Surrender or Die".
26. "Behemoth – The Return of the Northern Moon".
27. "Gallhammer – The Worship".
28. (March 2013). "ONLY DEATH IS REAL: An Illustrated History of Hellhammer and Early Celtic Frost 1982–1985, by Tom Gabriel Fischer with Martin Eric Ain".

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