Hammers Of Misfortune – 17th Street

There is no question that Hammers Of Misfortune have been loading their discography with criminally-underrated records since their formation over a decade ago. Back-to-back, The August Engine and The Locust Years put most bands to shame in its inventiveness and spectacle. The band have had acclaimed musicians such as Slough Feg’s Mike Scalzi in its ranks, and every album has had a different line-up. These changes have done little to stifle the band’s creativity, and after an uneven double-album, Fields/Church Of Broken Glass, and another major line-up shift, Hammers Of Misfortune comes out with 17th Street, an album on par with their other masterpieces.

Half of the band are fresh faces, including vocalist Joe Hutton and guitarist Leila Abdul-Rauf. They fit in just as well as any other past members, being resources to the unpredictable style Hammers Of Misfortune have become praised for. For those who need some type of genre description to understand what a band sounds like, imagine a progressive metal/thrash/doom hybrid bundled in ‘70s heavy metal excess. A flimsy response for sure, but the band’s indescribable nature has always been one of their strongest attributes.

While Fields/Church Of Broken Glass fell under the weight of its own ambition, 17th Street has a structure that is much more conducive to the type of snappy tunes the band excels at. The piano theatrics of “The Day The City Died” is cycled into an abrasive, attention-grabbing metal jam, complete with a shredding guitar solo at the end. The title track is a mini-guitar clinic, as long-time member John Cobbett and Abdul-Rauf rip the hell of their guitars in a dueling harmonic intro.

“Staring (The 31st Floor)” is the heaviest song the band have written to date, with riffs dense enough to leave an imprint in a car door. None of the other track reach that level of intensity, though gets close enough when the ten-minute closer “Going Somewhere” launches into its fabulous extended instrumental outro. They pull out the ballad card with “Summer Tears,” giving Hutton an opening to belt out raw, emotional vocals suited to the forlorn lyrics spread across 17th Street.

Fans of the band’s previous albums will know what to expect from Hammers Of Misfortune, though 17th Street is no rehash. These songs stand alongside modern classics like the two-part “The August Engine” and “The Locust Years.” A song to add to that list is “The Grain,” which has two things going for it: a killer bass line and a top-notch chorus of male/female vocal harmonies. Of course, the rest of the band does their part in transforming a middle-of-the-album tune into a stand-out performance; Sigrid Sheie gets a mention for her wonderful piano closing that has the right blend of hopefulness and solemn ambience.

Whether this current crew of misfits will stay around for another album is anybody’s guess, but the band still have a ton of songwriting tricks that make for exuberant fare on 17th Street. These songs crackle with excitement, and it’s hard not to give in to the elaborate musicianship the band regularly plays. Being signed to Metal Blade should give this album the momentum it needs to get to places past albums have been unable to. 17th Street is a fine album to start off this new era of Hammers Of Misfortune, and should be on more than one best-of list at the end of the year.

Rating: 9/10
Label: Metal Blade
Web site: http://www.hammersofmisfortune.com/

By Dan Marsicano