Artist: Demolition Hammer
Album: Epidemic of Violence
Release Date: March 24, 1992
Label: Century Media Records
Genre: Thrash Metal / Death-Thrash
Description
If Tortured Existence was the warning shot, Epidemic of Violence was the all-out assault. Demolition Hammer’s second album is a feral masterpiece of extreme thrash, often hailed as one of the genre’s most devastating releases. It takes the raw aggression of their debut and tightens every element — the riffs are sharper, the drumming more punishing, and the production hits like a wrecking ball.
Produced again by Scott Burns at Morrisound Studios, the record captures a band operating at peak intensity. The songwriting walks a deadly line between precision and chaos — “Skull Fracturing Nightmare,” “Pyroclastic Annihilation,” and “Aborticide” erupt with neck-snapping speed and surgical ferocity. Meanwhile, “Carnivorous Obsession” and the title track showcase Demolition Hammer’s uncanny ability to combine groove, technical skill, and sheer rage into something unforgettable.
Lyrically, the album’s bleak imagery — war, decay, death, and humanity’s collapse — mirrors its sonic destruction. Every song bleeds intensity; there’s no filler, no compromise. Many fans and critics alike cite Epidemic of Violence as one of the heaviest thrash albums ever recorded, sitting comfortably alongside classics by Slayer, Kreator, and Dark Angel.