The reinvigorated VIOLENT HAMMER return with a full-length that handily trounces those not-inconsiderable predecessors. Aptly titled Riders of the Wasteland, VIOLENT HAMMER's debut album encompasses their simple yet scintillating aesthetic - the full span of death metal and black metal from the '80s through early '90s, early thrash, and most significantly early grindcore and UK/Swedish hardcore and crust from the '80s - and blasts it into oblivion with the aplomb of a nuclear fallout. Unremittingly hammering and remorselessly primitive, each of the nine barbaric slabs of song across the album's satisfyingly swift 26 minutes gets in, gets out, and fucking DESTROYS. As such, Riders of the Wasteland is deceptively catchy, much like so much '80s grindcore was, and retains a twisted sense of fun within its gnarled 'n' gnarling sonics