Hellhammer - Hellhammer (Wickedness Records, 2005)
Disc 1:
1. Crucifixion3:04
2. Maniac 4:02
3. When Hell's Near 2:39
4. Decapitator 2:07
5. Blood Insanity 4:22
6. Power of Satan 4:11
7. Reaper 2:07
8. Death Fiend 2:35
9. Triumph of Death 5:15
10. Metallic Storm 2:20
11. Ready for Slaughter 3:36
12. Dark Warriors 3:03
13. Hammerhead 2:48
14. Angel of Destruction 2:59
15. Chainsaw 3:59
16. Sweet Torment 2:09
17. Bloody Pussies 4:58
Total Running Time: 56:23

Disc 2:
1. Messiah 0:59
2. The Third of the Storms (Evoked Damnation) 4:20
3. Buried and Forgotten 3:03
4. Maniac 6:02
5. Eurynomous 3:46
6. Triumph of Death 3:11
7. Revelation of Doom 6:59
8. Reaper 3:04
9. Satanic Rites 2:28
10. Crucifixion 7:19
11. 2:47
12. 2:02
Total Running Time: 46:06

This is another classic piece of Hellhammer history to own but of course very difficult to find as well. At first when finding out this had some live performance of some sort on it when getting it, I was very excited considering out of all the things Hellhammer and Celtic Frost ever did over the years, the one thing they neglected to give the die hard fans was an authentic released live album that displayed their power and godly aura. Though when listening to the first disc, I don't perceive this as a live album at all. It sounds just like a demo of some sort that has a lot of unreleased material on it.

I have very good hearing and have heard some of the worst live recordings known to man, but there's nothing about the first disc that would even remotely give you the notion that this is a live performance of any sort. You don't hear a crowd screaming and yelling, nothing on here. At any rate despite the possible false advertisement that the information on the first disc may have, it still is very much so worthy of listening to for the unreleased material and some of the killer songs that actually did make it on official Hellhammer releases later. You also get on the second disc even though it's not noted anywhere; you get the "Satanic Rites" demo on there. All the tracks on the second disc are from that legendary demo of theirs that really got them attention in the early days. Both disc's have pretty good sound on them though, not four star quality production but still very tolerable to listen to. If you enjoy the sound on the official Hellhammer releases, then you should have no issue in accepting this one as well then.

The booklet for this album set is very in-depth and gives you a very comprehensive report of the early days of Hellhammer all the way back to where the influences for their sound came from and things of that sort. A lot of very well detailed rare and grim black and white photos are in there also. You also get the lyrics to all the songs on here too. To culminate all that in the end, you get a very small message from Tom Warrior himself giving a small testimony on what the days of Hellhammer meant to him and what he truly perceived them to be about in the early days. Whoever compiled the booklet is definitely a HUGE Hellhammer fan. At any rate, if you see this somewhere you're a fucking fool for passing it up. (Sadistikal)

Overall Rating: 10

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