In the early ‘80’s, heavy metal music was experiencing growing pains as its more extreme sub-genres – death metal and black metal – were beginning to stir in the dark underground. Along with Slayer and Mercyful Fate, Switzerland’s Hellhammer was one of the more vehement forces to spearhead this new movement. Formed by Tom Gabriel Fischer as a vehicle to both pay homage to his heroes in the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and to vent his personal frustrations around his troubled youth and suffocating surroundings, Hellhammer would only survive long enough to record two demos and one E.P. – and never play a single gig – but it left its mark upon nearly every extreme band to follow in its wake.
Thirteen of these songs emerged on the band’s first demo, Triumph of Death, in 1983. The demo was promoted by a fictitious label concocted by the band, Prowlin’ Death Records, through which they mailed handmade newsletters – which contained band news as well as black-and-white photos of members posing with weapons and corpse paint – to metal fans around the world. But the “knowledgeable” music press almost universally despised the demo at the time.
Shortly after Triumph of Death, Steve Warrior parted ways with the band and was eventually replaced by Martin Eric Ain. Ain and Fischer developed both a personal and a working friendship. Their long discussions about religion, history, fantasy and occult themes had a great impact upon Hellhammer’s lyrics, and broadened their scope. Martin Ain helped with the creation of Hellhammer’s second demo, Satanic Rites, though Fischer actually played the bass parts in the studio.