Interview: Torture Hammer
Obviously as a death metal band our goal was to drop another death metal record but I think we just broadened the scope of what that can include.
Torture Hammer are a new band who dish out pummelling death metal, and their self titled new EP, certainly demonstrates this without a shadow of a doubt. With a healthy amount of slamming and brutal grooves, the EP shows the growth of the band and their sound, even though it is only their second release. Gavin Brown caught up with Torture Hammer guitarist Sean Collins, vocalist Peter Pawlak and drummer Max Mahmood (the band are completed by bassist Amir Sahani) to hear all about the new EP, their recent tour with All Shall Perish and their death metal and hardcore roots.
E&D: Your self-titled EP has just come out, what has the reaction to it been like so far?
Sean: The reaction has been great! We’ve been itchin’ to put out new music ever since our first release so it’s been really awesome to see people rockin’ with it. We played the whole EP live on our recent run with All Shall Perish and there was no shortage of moshing and headbanging so that definitely put some wind in our sails as we approached the release date.
E&D: How did you celebrate the release of the EP?
Sean: Hmm, we didn’t really “celebrate” the release, at least formally…although the run with ASP was something of a celebration itself, I’d say. I think it kinda signified for all of us the fact that we were officially a legitimate band with the aim of touring and growing as opposed to just being a “band” with four songs on the internet and a million half-baked tracks on my hard drive lol
E&D: How was the experience of working with Charles Toshio on the EP and how did he help with the sound of it?
Sean: Toshio did our first EP, Dormant Horror, so this was our second time working with him, although everyone in Torture Hammer has worked with him individually for like billions of years at this point. Being in the studio with him is always a good time. Lots of laughs, lots of tomfoolery, plenty of joshin’ around. Hella chain-yankin’. You know the vibes. I think he was a good fit for the EP because Sean tends to like more modern-sounding productions while Peter tends to prefer more of that classic death metal sound… Charles does a great job of producing something that we both think sounds good.
E&D: Charles has previously worked with Spy, Sunami, and Scowl. Did you want a big hardcore vibe alongside the death metal on this release?
Sean: Hmm, not necessarily. We all came up in the Bay Area hardcore scene, though, so I’m sure that’s probably reflected in our sound in certain ways but I wouldn’t say we intentionally tried to channel “hardcore” through this EP. We just knew we wanted to incorporate more mosh/slammy parts in our next release but there wasn’t really a particular “vibe” we were going for – hardcore or otherwise.
E&D: Is hardcore a big influence on all the members of Torture Hammer, especially with Peter also playing in Spy?
Sean: Definitely. Basically everyone in Torture Hammer plays in one or more hardcore bands. Max drums for Manos De Fierro, Four Winds Away, Adjudicator and probably a million other hardcore bands I can’t recall right now and Amir fronts a sick ass hardcore band called Caveman (Peter plays bass in that band, too). So yeah, a whole lotta hardcore goin’ on around here.
Peter: I’ve spent most of the last 4 years of my life on tour, playing hundreds of hardcore shows around the world with Spy so there’s no doubt that hardcore shapes my approach to creating new music.
E&D: What are your favourite ever hardcore albums?
Peter: When I was a kid I was most drawn to the more punk-leaning side of 80s hardcore, I grew up on stuff like Pick Your King by Poison Idea, the Bad Brains self-titled, Damaged by Black Flag, Fresh Fruit… Dead Kennedys, Out Of Step – Minor Threat. Shortly after, Ceremony and Trash Talk became huge for me, followed by bands like Coke Bust, Gag, Bib. Nowadays I can find something to enjoy and appreciate about most any hardcore band, especially if the live show has energy to it.
E&D: Who are the bands other biggest influences?
Sean: Kinda hard to say – we have a pretty wide range of tastes between all of us. I think, at least when it comes to songwriting, Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation are definitely up there. We like a lot of newer stuff, too. Undergang, Tribal Gaze, that first Sanguisugabogg EP. Rock and roll baby.
E&D: What are the most influential death metal albums for you?
Sean: Nocturnal by The Black Dahlia Murder, Nocturnal by The Black Dahlia Murder, Nocturnal by The Black Dahlia Murder.
Peter: As a kid I got really, really into late 80s/early 90s death metal, my favourites include all the classics, Effigy of the Forgotten by Suffocation, Symphonies of Sickness by Carcass, Tomb of the Mutilated by Cannibal Corpse, Altars of Madness by Morbid Angel, Left Hand Path by Entombed, and every record Death ever put out. Those bands/records shaped my taste in metal for years to come and continue to influence me to this day.
E&D: How has the sound of Torture Hammer evolved since your Dormant Horror demo from last year?
Sean: Honestly, the new release is just flat out heavier! I guess we kinda leaned a lil more into our more “modern” influences – I mean, the new EP has a decent amount of straight up fight riffs and 808’s so that’s definitely new. Dormant Horror, although not by “purist” standards, kinda veered more into the faster/more punishing end of the “death metal” spectrum, I think. The new EP retains a lot of that character in many ways but we definitely upped our mosh swag. Obviously as a death metal band our goal was to drop another death metal record but I think we just broadened the scope of what that can include.
E&D: Have you got plans for a full length album?
Sean: Oh yeah baby!
E&D: How did your recent show with Iron Front and Mammoth Grinder go?
Peter: Awesome, I’ve been a Mammoth Grinder fan for years and hadn’t seen them live since 2017 or 2018, had a great time at the show.
E&D: Max, did you find it a challenge doing double duty with Torture Hammer and Iron Front?
Max: It wasn’t hard, I’m used to that shit cause mf’s don’t wanna learn how to play the drums
E&D: How did the recent tour with All Shall Perish go and what were some of the highlights of the tour?
Peter: I think it went really well. Lots of positive feedback and enthusiasm from people at the shows! A tour highlight for me was driving through Montana, it’s beautiful out there. The shows we played in Portland, Mesa, AZ, and Las Vegas stood out as particularly good ones. Also just generally enjoyed spending time with friends in most of the cities we played.
E&D: What were you listening to on the road?
Sean: A little bit of everything, I’d say. Definitely a good number of death metal records, some hardcore, some country. It was kind of all over the place. We listened to the Fatal Realm demo and their new single a bunch. Max showed us the Suffication Live album. That shit goes crazy hard. He also gave us like a 2 hour lesson on Jazz theory and put me on to some sick Jazz artists.
Max: Megadeth.
E&D: As it was your first ever tour as Torture Hammer, did that make it an even cooler experience?
Peter: Definitely, it’s always fun to do a first tour with a new band. I was really impressed by how locked in Sean, Amir, and Max were instrumentally on the first ever Torture Hammer tour, they’re all great musicians.
E&D: Who would you love to tour with in the future?
Peter: To me, touring with legends like Cannibal Corpse, Obituary, or Dying Fetus would be one of the coolest things we could possibly do.
E&D: What has been the craziest show that you have ever played?
Peter: With Torture Hammer? Nothing too crazy yet, we don’t have too many shows under our belt yet but looking forward to what comes next year!
E&D: Have you got shows lineup going into next year?
Peter: Nothing yet but I’m sure we’ll start lining things up here shortly.
E&D: Will you be making it overseas at any point? Hopefully to the UK!
Peter: I hope so, would love to get over to UK/EU at some point!
E&D: What is the extreme music like in Santa Cruz at the moment?
Peter: To me Santa Cruz always has a good thing going. Metal, hardcore, whatever it might be, there always seems to be a generally high level of interest in this kinda stuff in the Santa Cruz area.
