If you love horror podcasts, you know Bloody Hammers (Amazon/Bandcamp). Their song "Bloodletting on the Kiss" is the theme for Pseudopod since its inception in 2006.
As a note, while the music is nominally safe for work, the videos and the cover art for the albums rarely are. I’ve made sure the thumbnails and images in this post are safe for work, but…
When I realized that Bloody Hammers is (roughly) the same as Anders Manga, I was thrilled. I had found them on Bandcamp!
And then I was pleasantly surprised. Because while A Lovely Sort of Death is gothic – almost to the point of introspection – the rest of Bloody Hammers’ discography fits right into that sweet spot of Gothic Rock (or Gothic Metal) which I tend to adore. For example, "Now The Screaming Starts" off the most recent album The Summoning retains the goth elements while also incorporating driving guitars and a catchy melody.
The point being that somewhere in their discography, Bloody Hammers has something to appeal to every kind of gothic dark soul out there.
Bloody Hammers is also steeped in the imagery of Hammer Films and the horror of the 1970’s – but with an explicit edge. The album cover for The Summoning demonstrates this well; while I don’t think I had to pixelate part of the cover to make it safe for work, it was questionable enough that I’d rather be safe than sorry.
I’ve definitely been on a gothic rock kick this month, and you better believe that Bloody Hammers is highly featured in that mix. And luckily, while you can only pick up their early releases on Amazon, all their releases are available on Bandcamp. If you like this kind of music, you want this.
Featured Photo by João Silas on Unsplash