Atlantic City heavy metal outfit, Hammer Fight, returns with their sophomore full length, Profound and Profane (Napalm Records). This album is a great party album for crushing some cans of suds with the buds. A great blend of classic heavy metal, a bit of hard rock, and a dash of trash/punk really bring Hammer Fight’s sound to a level of deliciousness for your ears. From start to finish, the energy level is turned up to eleven with no letting up.

Every song tries to add its own twist to stand out from the other tracks on Profound and Profane but I found the following to really stick out from the rest. ‘Good Times in Dark Ages’ is one of the high energy tracks that most of the songs contain but the bridge really stood out. About halfway through, the tempo slows down and some catchy guitar riff work explodes over a head bang worthy beat. ‘Low & Broken’ slows us down a bit to finish off the first half of the record. Acoustic guitar work starts off the track and slowly but surely the distortion finds its way in. This is the one break on the album so take it in and enjoy before the second half hits. ‘The Crate’ is the sole instrumental track on the album but it is quite the journey. Hammer Fight channels their inner Iron Maiden with leads after leads that play on for just shy of five minutes and is the longest track on the record. For guitar fans, staple your faces to your skull as they are about to melt off during this song.

Overall, this is a solid release from that is certainly enjoyable, but nothing new. I found that each track did just enough to differentiate from each other which is always a good sign as every band will have its formula for success but you can only drink from that well so often. Profound and Profane will continue to be replayed on my driving playlists as we approach what hopes to be an enjoyable summer between some great weather, tours, and upcoming releases.

6.5/10

TIM LEDIN
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