Demolition Hammer

Demolition Hammer emerged from New York City and entered the East Coast thrash metal circuit around 1986. Their initial demo, Skull Fracturing Nightmare, soon circulated among independent labels and enthusiasts engaged in tape trading. Two years afterward, the follow-up recording Necrology earned the quartet—vocalist/bassist Steve Reynolds, guitarists James Reilly and Derek Sykes, plus drummer Vinny Daze—a deal with Century Media Records. The label issued the competent thrash efforts Tortured Existence in 1990 and Epidemic of Violence in 1992, yet shifting tastes prompted the band to adopt a contemporary, Pantera-inspired death metal approach for the 1994 release Time Bomb. That album also marked a reduction to a trio after Reilly and Daze exited and former Malevolent Creation drummer Alex Marquez joined the lineup. The adjustments proved fruitless, however, because Reynolds and Marquez accepted positions with Florida’s Solstice, prompting the group’s dissolution one year later.