Hammers of Misfortune are an American Progressive Metal band from San Francisco, California. The group was founded by John Cobbett, ex-guitarist of Slough Feg, under the name Unholy Cadaver before naming themselves after a song on their demo EP. Starting as a Death Metal band, the group had long since began to incorporate Heavy Metal, Doom Metal, and Folk Metal to their sound, among other genres of music.
Members:
- John Cobbett - Guitars
- Joe Hutton - Vocals
- Leila Abdul-Rauf - Guitar, Vocals
- Sigrid Sheie - Keyboards, Vocals
- Paul Walker - Bass
- Will Carroll - Drums
Former Members:
- Janis Tanaka - Bass, Vocals
- Mike Scalzi - Guitars, Vocals
- Jamie Myers - Bass, Vocals
- Ron Nichols - Bass
- Patrick Goodwin - Guitar, Vocals
- Jesse Quattro - Vocals
- Max Barnett - Bass
- Chewy Marzolo - Drums
Discography:
- Unholy Cadaver EP (1998) (as Unholy Cadaver)
- The Bastard (2001)
- The August Engine (2003)
- The Locust Years (2006)
- Fields/Church of Broken Glass (2008)
- 17th Street (2011)
- Dead Revolution (2016)
- Overtaker (2022)
Hammers of Misfortune provides tropes for:
- Badass Boast: A few, "The Dragon Is Summoned" begins with a rather great one;I am the maelstrom's deafening song
The ether through which the fallen descend
I am the frightful dance of the flames
The pain of creation and violent end
I am the sculptor of wreckage and ruin
The creator and destroyer of all
Where is the sacrifice unto my shrine?
Where is the blood I took for my wine? - Genre Mashup: Especially in their early works, which was a hybrid of Progressive Metal, Heavy Metal, Folk Metal, Black Metal, and Doom Metal.
- Harsh Vocals: At times, mostly seen in their demo and The Bastard.
- Horsemen of the Apocalypse: "Famine's Lamp" mentions Famine, Pestilence, Death, and War in that order.
- Nature Metal: Hammers of Misfortune recorded their debut "The Bastard", which is a dark fantasy tale about an orphan who murders a tyrant king, and allows the beasts, plants, and creatures of the forest to destroy all civilization in the surrounding area. In the end, he learned that he is really a forest sapling that was turned into a human, and little more than a pawn in a Dragon's scheme to get rid of the humans.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: "Trot Out the Dead" delivers a pretty hefty one;If the people wonder at the suffering you've caused
And your massive avarice has left them at a loss
If by chance they notice your bloody snapping jaws
the blood upon your claws
your shifty eyes and laws
the nauseating flaws in all you've said
