Dead Revolution

As John Cobbett moves further away from his days in the defunct Bay Area black-metal band Ludicra, the Hammers of Misfortune/VHÖL guitarist seems to be circling back to the classic thrash he was reared on. Last year on VHÖL’s Deeper Than Sky, Cobbett went full thrash-metal with strokes of psychedelic and punk; on Hammers of Misfortune’s latest, Dead Revolution, he continues his love for prog, but the riffs are more fist-pumping than ever. This is the kind of metal that makes you want to tell your shithead boss to “Fuck off!” with a wide smile on your face. “Flying Alone” is high-octane headbanging fuel, and “Sea of Heroes” slows things down with an earworm of a riff. There are still odd twists and turns, and organ buzzing underneath (sounds like they were listening to Rising by Rainbow), but Dead Revolution is just what the title implies—with a fist in the air.