Hammers of Misfortune

Originally recognized under the moniker Unholy Cadaver, the San Francisco outfit Hammers of Misfortune crafts a sound often labeled Celtic power metal. Their approach fuses dual-guitar harmonies in the Thin Lizzy/Iron Maiden vein with operatic vocals, Celtic-tinged acoustic guitar interludes, and musical components drawn from Scandinavian black metal, while steering clear of its lyrical traits. Guitarist/vocalist John Cobbett fronts the quartet and shares membership in Slough Feg alongside guitarist/vocalist Mike Scalzi. The initial roster was completed by bassist/vocalist Janis Tanaka, whose prior credits include L7, Stone Fox, and Fireball Ministry, along with drummer Chewy Marzolo. Their first recording effort, plainly titled Demo #1, took shape across 1996 and 1997 before surfacing under the Unholy Cadaver name. The group’s inaugural proper release arrived in 2001 as the elaborately packaged three-act concept album The Bastard, succeeded two years later by the comparably ambitious and ornate The August Engine. That effort had been tracked chiefly by Cobbett and Chewy with minimal involvement from Scalzi or Tanaka, and its credits formally noted Tanaka’s departure afterward, ushering in bassist/vocalist Jamie Myers and pianist/organist Sigrid Sheie. This configuration mounted an uncommon cross-country U.S. tour during summer 2004 yet remained largely inactive through much of the next year as Cobbett and Scalzi concentrated on Slough Feg’s Atavism. When the band’s third full-length The Locust Years surfaced in 2006, further lineup shifts loomed; by year’s end both Myers, then expecting her first child, and Scalzi, citing commitments to both projects, had stepped away. Patrick Goodwin of Dirty Power assumed male vocals and guitar duties, while Jesse Quattro of Secret Chiefs 3 and Carniceria took over bass and female vocals. The dual concept album Fields/Church of Broken Glass followed in 2008, and 2011 brought the widely praised fifth studio album 17th Street, marking the first Hammers of Misfortune outing fronted by Joe Hutton. Dead Revolution, issued in 2016, steered the band toward heavier and darker terrain with producer Nick Dumitriu of Vhol and Ritual Chamber, who captured the sessions on a vintage Trident console with restrained digital intervention and thereby delivered the ensemble’s warmest-sounding release to date.