Hellhammer were only a band for two years, and only released a tiny amount of recorded material before morphing into Celtic Frost. However, the band's hellaciously lo-fi output had a tremendous impact on the future of extreme music, inspiring countless thrash, black-metal and death-metal pioneers to try and channel their caustic sound.
In the late 2010s, Hellhammer co-founder Tom G. Warrior — also of Celtic Frost and Triptykon — decided to honor the band's retrospective legacy by forming the quasi-tribute act Triumph of Death (named after Hellhammer's first demo) so that the Swiss pioneers' songs could finally be played onstage.
With Triumph of Death's forthcoming live album Ressurection of the Flesh arriving later this month, Hellhammer are in the air again, and there're several generations of metalheads who are just now being introduced to the band's iconic catalog.
But where should someone who's never heard Hellhammer before begin their journey? Below, Warrior himself does the honors and picks the perfect point of entry.
"Messiah"
"Messiah" might be the most effective point of entry for somebody discovering Hellhammer. It is a characteristically simple Hellhammer composition, and yet it conveys the typical Hellhammer power, derived from both punk and metal.
Moreover, it's lyrics reflect the first collaboration between Martin Eric Ain and me.
