Thorr's Hammer was an American-Norwegian

death-doom Death-doom is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It combines the slow tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep growling vocals and double kick drumming of death metal. The genre emerged in the late-1980s and gained ...

band.

History

Thorr's Hammer was formed in

Ballard, Seattle Ballard is a neighborhood in the northwestern area of Seattle, Washington, United States. Formerly an independent city, the City of Seattle's official boundaries define it as bounded to the north by Crown Hill (N.W. 85th Street), to the east ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

by Greg Anderson and

Stephen O'Malley Stephen O'Malley (sometimes referred to as SOMA; born July 15, 1974) is an American guitarist, producer, composer, and visual artist from Seattle, Washington, who has conceptualized and participated in numerous drone doom, death/doom, and expe ...

during winter 1994–1995. Soon after,

Runhild Gammelsæter Runhild Gammelsæter is a Norwegian musician notable for being the vocalist for the American bands Thorr's Hammer and Khlyst. She works as a professional biologist and holds a Ph.D. in cell physiology. Biography Runhild Gammelsæter was a 1 ...

, then a 17-year-old Norwegian

exchange student A student exchange program is a program in which students from a secondary school (high school) or university study abroad at one of their institution's partner institutions. A student exchange program may involve international travel, but d ...

, joined the band as vocalist/lyricist. The band reached its final form when Jamie Sykes and James Hale joined. The band was active only for six weeks during which it played two gigs and recorded a demo and an EP titled ''

Dommedagsnatt ''Dommedagsnatt'' is the only album released by Thorr's Hammer. It was originally released on Moribund Records on cassette in 1996, but it was not until it was re-released on CD in 1998 on Southern Lord Records (the first release for the label) ...

''. In 1997, the song "Troll" from their EP ''Dommedagsnatt'' was released on ''The Awakening - Females in Extreme Music'', a compilation album from Dwell Records. The band disbanded after Gammelsæter's return to

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway.

Burning Witch Burning Witch was an American doom metal band from Seattle, Washington, active between 1995 and 1998. Aside from EPs and split releases, the band released a compilation album called '' Crippled Lucifer'', which had songs of their early EPs. His ...

was formed from the ashes of Thorr's Hammer, and Gammelsæter collaborated with

James Plotkin James Plotkin is an American guitarist and producer known for his role in bands such as Khanate and OLD but with an extensive catalogue outside these bands. He has played guitar for Phantomsmasher and Scorn and continues to remix tracks for band ...

(

Khanate A khaganate or khanate was a polity ruled by a khan, khagan, khatun, or khanum. That political territory was typically found on the Eurasian Steppe and could be equivalent in status to tribal chiefdom, principality, kingdom or empire. ...

) to form Khlyst. Khlyst released a full-length album ''

Chaos Is My Name ''Chaos is My Name'' is the debut album by the drone doom band Khlyst. Stephen Kasner did the artwork for the album.Chaos Live'' in 2008. Thorr's Hammer reunited in 2009 to play at the Supersonic Festival in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, England, and again in 2010 for The

Roadburn Festival Roadburn Festival is an international music festival held in Tilburg, Netherlands every April since 1999. It was set up as a spin-off from the Roadburn music blog founded by Jurgen van den Brand and Walter Hoeijmakers. Originally focused on stone ...

Tilburg Tilburg () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, in the southern province of North Brabant. With a population of 222,601 (1 July 2021), it is the second-largest city or municipality in North Brabant after Eindhoven and the seventh-lar ...

, Netherlands. In an interview with ''

Rock-A-Rolla ''Rock-A-Rolla'' was a music magazine covering experimental, avant-garde, noise and metal artists pushing the boundaries of music. Launched in late 2005, it was published bi-monthly in the UK by V-Squared Publishing Limited and distributed worl ...

'' magazine, Runhild Gammelsæter said the band "might make some new music" in the future.''Rock-A-Rolla'' magazine, Issue 20, May/June 2009

Line-up

(a.k.a. Ozma) – vocals and lyrics * Greg Anderson – guitar ("

drones Drone most commonly refers to: * Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg * Unmanned aerial vehicle * Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft * Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to: ...

and

sunn Sunn (stylized in all lowercase) amplifiers was a brand of musical instrument amplifiers based in Tualatin, Oregon, United States. History In early 1963, the Kingsmen, a band based in Portland, Oregon, became known for their hit version ...

s") *

– guitar ("crust and

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surf ...

") *James Hale – bass guitar ("subsonic attack") (replaced by Guy Pinhas at the 2009 & 2010 reunion shows) *Jamie Sykes – drums ("battledrums")

Discography

*'' Sannhet i Blodet'' (demo 1995) *''

'' (cassette 1996, CD 1998, CD reissue 2004, picture disc 2004) *''Only Death Is Real – Live by Command of Tom G. Warrior'' (LP 2019, recorded live at Roadburn 2010) *''Awakening – Females in Extreme Music'' (CD 1997)

References

External links

Thorr's Hammer
at the website of

Southern Lord Records Southern Lord is an American heavy metal record label that was founded in 1998 by Greg Anderson. It specialized in experimental metal: particularly doom metal, stoner rock, and drone metal. The label later expanded its line-up to include ar ...

Thorr's Hammer
at

Encyclopaedia Metallum Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives (commonly known as Metal Archives per the URL or abbreviated as MA) is an online encyclopedia based upon musical artists who predominantly perform heavy metal music along with its various sub-genres. E ...

{{Authority control American death metal musical groups Norwegian death metal musical groups Norwegian doom metal musical groups Heavy metal musical groups from Washington (state) Musical groups established in 1994 1994 establishments in Washington (state) Musical groups disestablished in 1995 1995 disestablishments in Washington (state)