Gallhammer

News of an all-female Japanese trio forming to honor extreme metal icons such as Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Amebix, and the wider traditions of doom, sludge, and black metal tends to draw immediate attention. Gallhammer, the trio devoted to doom and black metal, first took shape in 2002 when Vivian Slaughter assembled the project as a metal homage and enlisted Mika Penetrator on guitar together with Risa Reaper on drums to accompany her into the darker realms of central and northern European extreme music. Though the members already possessed experience in noise and related extreme styles, none had previously played their assigned instruments or worked within doom and black metal, so the band effectively began at the beginning. Their debut demo circulated through the scene in 2003, securing a slot at Koiwa Death Fest 2. Hello From the Gutter records issued the first album, Gloomy Lights, in 2004. The sight of three women excavating the sounds of Swiss and Scandinavian metal legends while fusing them with black and doom elements quickly registered in Europe, prompting Peaceville to sign the group shortly afterward. In 2006 the band issued a collection of early material paired with the DVD Dawn Of..., and Peaceville released the follow-up album Ill Innocence in 2007. That record earned strong critical praise and appeared on year-end best-of lists throughout the leading metal press. The same year also brought extensive touring throughout Europe.