[kj] KJ/GallHammer

[Jim Harper]

Hello all

This might be of interest to the extreme metal fans amongst us. I listen to a lot of Japanese music, but GallHammer have never been my thing musically-speaking. I'm impressed they've managed to become a successful, despite being Japanese and all-female, both rarities in the western metal scene. 

Their bassist is often sporting an Amebix t-shirt and I've found this snippet from an old interview:

Question: In previous interviews, you have cited "older" bands such as Amebix and Hellhammer as the main influences of Gallhammer's music. Are there any contemporary bands that you admire?

Vivian: For us, Burzum, Hellhammer and Amebix are the most important influences in our work, but we also take inspiration from Bauhaus, Joy Division and Killing Joke. Everyone listens to different kinds of music within the group, so ultimately we all influence each other. 

Question: How did you discover Amebix, as they are seen as a relatively "underground band"?

Vivian: When I was about eighteen, I went into a second-hand record store to the heavy metal corner and I found an Amebix record. What first grabbed my attention was the artwork on the cover, it seemed very interesting, so I wanted to hear the album.

At first I wasn't aware that Amebix was crust punk, I thought they were just a heavy metal group. On my first listen to the album I thought, "That sounds really cool!" Heavy metal has very detailed lyrics and Amebix doesn’t have this particular element. They keep to a very simplistic sound, whereas most heavy metal music is different, so it was a fresh sound for me. I started to really like Amebix and the crust punk genre. I also like D.I.R.T., which is a crust punk band with a female vocalist.

I might give their music more of a listen, despite not liking any extreme metal.

Jim.

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