Bloody Hammers
Songs of Unspeakable Terror
Album - Metal, Music, Rock
Since 2012, North Carolina husband-and-wife duo Anders Manga and Devallia have created doomy, hook-laden tunes under the name Bloody Hammers. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, they retreated to their home studio to record Songs of Unspeakable Terror, which offers an infectious horror-punk twist on their spooky sound. “People have called us ‘doom metal’ or ‘gothic metal’ in the past, but with all the real-life doom going on in the world in 2020, I wasn’t in the mood for that,” Manga tells Apple Music. “When I started writing, something was pulling my creativity to the opposite direction—to escapism. I wanted to make an aggressive but fun and distracting record.” Below, Manga pulls back the curtain on Songs of Unspeakable Terror.
A Night to Dismember “I had this title written down for a while as something I wanted to develop. It’s taken from the early-’80s slasher film disaster by sleaze film legend Doris Wishman. When the melody for this track made its first appearance in my head, the only word I had was ‘Satuuurdaayy,’ but then I remembered I had this title in the idea locker. It fit nicely, and the rest came together pretty quick. Melodically, it has a ’50s vibe but it’s still heavy and fast enough to smash stuff to.”
Hands of the Ripper “One day I was sitting at the drums, just spacing out and playing a shuffle beat. I love the groove of a shuffle like in ‘Easy Livin'’ by Uriah Heep. The verse melody came to me and I loved it instantly. I had the ‘Jack the Ripper’ vinyl by Screaming Lord Sutch laying out, and I remember looking at it and thinking, ‘Yeah, I should make a Ripper track out of this.’ I went over and grabbed my guitar and the riff just spilled out almost exactly as it is on the record.”
Witchfinder General “As a movie nerd, I love all those old Witchfinder films from the ’70s, like Mark of the Devil and such—but the best one is 1968’s Witchfinder General. Vincent Price played the part with creepy perfection. The song is a breakneck-speed tribute to his character from that film.”
Not of This Earth “On this album, I was really going for a straight tribute to my heroes and influences. Lyrically, this song is a tribute to Roger Corman's 1957 drive-in sci-fi/horror classic [of the same name]. As much as I think we're inspired by Hammer Films and classic European gothic horror, Corman is just as important and certainly an American treasure.”
The Ones Who Own the Dark “The riff on this song is the first spark that kicked off the writing. I remember thinking it had a cool Social Distortion vibe, and I was loving it. It’s a tribute to all the occult horror films from the ’70s—not one specifically, but films like The Mephisto Waltz, The Sentinel, and plenty of other sleazy masterpieces.”
Waking the Dead “I wanted this album to be heavy on fun horror anthems. In my head, this one is about a drive-in theater that was opened on top of an ancient graveyard. It’s classic zombie stuff: The dead are tired of all the rowdy drive-in kids, so they raise from their graves and eat their brains. I mean, it could happen, right? What’s not to love?”
Night of the Witch “This is the only song that had been around for a while—a long while. I first recorded this in the late ’90s as my music project called Coffin Moth. It’s one I had always liked and wanted to rerecord at some point, and this album seemed like the right fit. To me, it’s equal parts Bauhaus and Judas Priest. It’s about taking a night walk through the woods and discovering a coven of witches in the midst of a spectacular ritual.”
We Are the Damned “I was going for that booming, anthemic vibe here. It’s about reflecting on all the bad stuff you did in life and realizing your soul is doomed but also realizing you’re OK with that. When weighing heaven or hell, hell seems like a lot more fun anyway—so might as well pursue your glory down below.”
The Brain That Wouldn't Die "When the wife and I were bingeing old horror trash during the lockdown, she put on Frankenhooker, the old Frank Henenlotter movie. I had a song and melody I was working on at the time that I didn't have a title or lyrics for yet. Frankenhooker got me thinking about the 1962 classic The Brain That Wouldn't Die, which has a very similar plot to Frankenhooker...except there's no super crack or nudity. Shortly after, the song was born."
Lucifer’s Light “We really liked this song but struggled with where to put it on the album because it was so different—being a slower, atmospheric acoustic track. I like where it landed, but many have told me I should have put it sooner in the album because it’s a strong track. Sometimes when deciding on the sequence, you just surrender.”
I Spit on Your Corpse “It’s meant to be a little nihilistic humor. It’s about fantasizing that someone you really don’t like finally dies and you don’t have to deal with them anymore. Like the saying ‘I’ll dance on your grave,’ or whatever. The title was lovingly lifted from Al Adamson’s 1974 exploitation film, but the title only. His film was about drug smuggling or something like that.”
A Night to Dismember “I had this title written down for a while as something I wanted to develop. It’s taken from the early-’80s slasher film disaster by sleaze film legend Doris Wishman. When the melody for this track made its first appearance in my head, the only word I had was ‘Satuuurdaayy,’ but then I remembered I had this title in the idea locker. It fit nicely, and the rest came together pretty quick. Melodically, it has a ’50s vibe but it’s still heavy and fast enough to smash stuff to.”
Hands of the Ripper “One day I was sitting at the drums, just spacing out and playing a shuffle beat. I love the groove of a shuffle like in ‘Easy Livin'’ by Uriah Heep. The verse melody came to me and I loved it instantly. I had the ‘Jack the Ripper’ vinyl by Screaming Lord Sutch laying out, and I remember looking at it and thinking, ‘Yeah, I should make a Ripper track out of this.’ I went over and grabbed my guitar and the riff just spilled out almost exactly as it is on the record.”
Witchfinder General “As a movie nerd, I love all those old Witchfinder films from the ’70s, like Mark of the Devil and such—but the best one is 1968’s Witchfinder General. Vincent Price played the part with creepy perfection. The song is a breakneck-speed tribute to his character from that film.”
Not of This Earth “On this album, I was really going for a straight tribute to my heroes and influences. Lyrically, this song is a tribute to Roger Corman's 1957 drive-in sci-fi/horror classic [of the same name]. As much as I think we're inspired by Hammer Films and classic European gothic horror, Corman is just as important and certainly an American treasure.”
The Ones Who Own the Dark “The riff on this song is the first spark that kicked off the writing. I remember thinking it had a cool Social Distortion vibe, and I was loving it. It’s a tribute to all the occult horror films from the ’70s—not one specifically, but films like The Mephisto Waltz, The Sentinel, and plenty of other sleazy masterpieces.”
Waking the Dead “I wanted this album to be heavy on fun horror anthems. In my head, this one is about a drive-in theater that was opened on top of an ancient graveyard. It’s classic zombie stuff: The dead are tired of all the rowdy drive-in kids, so they raise from their graves and eat their brains. I mean, it could happen, right? What’s not to love?”
Night of the Witch “This is the only song that had been around for a while—a long while. I first recorded this in the late ’90s as my music project called Coffin Moth. It’s one I had always liked and wanted to rerecord at some point, and this album seemed like the right fit. To me, it’s equal parts Bauhaus and Judas Priest. It’s about taking a night walk through the woods and discovering a coven of witches in the midst of a spectacular ritual.”
We Are the Damned “I was going for that booming, anthemic vibe here. It’s about reflecting on all the bad stuff you did in life and realizing your soul is doomed but also realizing you’re OK with that. When weighing heaven or hell, hell seems like a lot more fun anyway—so might as well pursue your glory down below.”
The Brain That Wouldn't Die "When the wife and I were bingeing old horror trash during the lockdown, she put on Frankenhooker, the old Frank Henenlotter movie. I had a song and melody I was working on at the time that I didn't have a title or lyrics for yet. Frankenhooker got me thinking about the 1962 classic The Brain That Wouldn't Die, which has a very similar plot to Frankenhooker...except there's no super crack or nudity. Shortly after, the song was born."
Lucifer’s Light “We really liked this song but struggled with where to put it on the album because it was so different—being a slower, atmospheric acoustic track. I like where it landed, but many have told me I should have put it sooner in the album because it’s a strong track. Sometimes when deciding on the sequence, you just surrender.”
I Spit on Your Corpse “It’s meant to be a little nihilistic humor. It’s about fantasizing that someone you really don’t like finally dies and you don’t have to deal with them anymore. Like the saying ‘I’ll dance on your grave,’ or whatever. The title was lovingly lifted from Al Adamson’s 1974 exploitation film, but the title only. His film was about drug smuggling or something like that.”
Songs of Unspeakable Terror
Bloody Hammers
Since 2012, North Carolina husband-and-wife duo Anders Manga and Devallia have created doomy, hook-laden tunes under the name Bloody Hammers. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, they retreated to their home studio to record Songs of Unspeakable Terror, which offers an infectious horror-punk twist on their spooky sound. “People have called us ‘doom metal’ or ‘gothic metal’ in the past, but with all the real-life doom going on in the world in 2020, I wasn’t in the mood for that,” Manga tells Apple Music. “When I started writing, something was pulling my creativity to the opposite direction—to escapism. I wanted to make an aggressive but fun and distracting record.” Below, Manga pulls back the curtain on Songs of Unspeakable Terror.
A Night to Dismember “I had this title written down for a while as something I wanted to develop. It’s taken from the early-’80s slasher film disaster by sleaze film legend Doris Wishman. When the melody for this track made its first appearance in my head, the only word I had was ‘Satuuurdaayy,’ but then I remembered I had this title in the idea locker. It fit nicely, and the rest came together pretty quick. Melodically, it has a ’50s vibe but it’s still heavy and fast enough to smash stuff to.”
Hands of the Ripper “One day I was sitting at the drums, just spacing out and playing a shuffle beat. I love the groove of a shuffle like in ‘Easy Livin'’ by Uriah Heep. The verse melody came to me and I loved it instantly. I had the ‘Jack the Ripper’ vinyl by Screaming Lord Sutch laying out, and I remember looking at it and thinking, ‘Yeah, I should make a Ripper track out of this.’ I went over and grabbed my guitar and the riff just spilled out almost exactly as it is on the record.”
Witchfinder General “As a movie nerd, I love all those old Witchfinder films from the ’70s, like Mark of the Devil and such—but the best one is 1968’s Witchfinder General. Vincent Price played the part with creepy perfection. The song is a breakneck-speed tribute to his character from that film.”
Not of This Earth “On this album, I was really going for a straight tribute to my heroes and influences. Lyrically, this song is a tribute to Roger Corman's 1957 drive-in sci-fi/horror classic [of the same name]. As much as I think we're inspired by Hammer Films and classic European gothic horror, Corman is just as important and certainly an American treasure.”
The Ones Who Own the Dark “The riff on this song is the first spark that kicked off the writing. I remember thinking it had a cool Social Distortion vibe, and I was loving it. It’s a tribute to all the occult horror films from the ’70s—not one specifically, but films like The Mephisto Waltz, The Sentinel, and plenty of other sleazy masterpieces.”
Waking the Dead “I wanted this album to be heavy on fun horror anthems. In my head, this one is about a drive-in theater that was opened on top of an ancient graveyard. It’s classic zombie stuff: The dead are tired of all the rowdy drive-in kids, so they raise from their graves and eat their brains. I mean, it could happen, right? What’s not to love?”
Night of the Witch “This is the only song that had been around for a while—a long while. I first recorded this in the late ’90s as my music project called Coffin Moth. It’s one I had always liked and wanted to rerecord at some point, and this album seemed like the right fit. To me, it’s equal parts Bauhaus and Judas Priest. It’s about taking a night walk through the woods and discovering a coven of witches in the midst of a spectacular ritual.”
We Are the Damned “I was going for that booming, anthemic vibe here. It’s about reflecting on all the bad stuff you did in life and realizing your soul is doomed but also realizing you’re OK with that. When weighing heaven or hell, hell seems like a lot more fun anyway—so might as well pursue your glory down below.”
The Brain That Wouldn't Die "When the wife and I were bingeing old horror trash during the lockdown, she put on Frankenhooker, the old Frank Henenlotter movie. I had a song and melody I was working on at the time that I didn't have a title or lyrics for yet. Frankenhooker got me thinking about the 1962 classic The Brain That Wouldn't Die, which has a very similar plot to Frankenhooker...except there's no super crack or nudity. Shortly after, the song was born."
Lucifer’s Light “We really liked this song but struggled with where to put it on the album because it was so different—being a slower, atmospheric acoustic track. I like where it landed, but many have told me I should have put it sooner in the album because it’s a strong track. Sometimes when deciding on the sequence, you just surrender.”
I Spit on Your Corpse “It’s meant to be a little nihilistic humor. It’s about fantasizing that someone you really don’t like finally dies and you don’t have to deal with them anymore. Like the saying ‘I’ll dance on your grave,’ or whatever. The title was lovingly lifted from Al Adamson’s 1974 exploitation film, but the title only. His film was about drug smuggling or something like that.”
A Night to Dismember “I had this title written down for a while as something I wanted to develop. It’s taken from the early-’80s slasher film disaster by sleaze film legend Doris Wishman. When the melody for this track made its first appearance in my head, the only word I had was ‘Satuuurdaayy,’ but then I remembered I had this title in the idea locker. It fit nicely, and the rest came together pretty quick. Melodically, it has a ’50s vibe but it’s still heavy and fast enough to smash stuff to.”
Hands of the Ripper “One day I was sitting at the drums, just spacing out and playing a shuffle beat. I love the groove of a shuffle like in ‘Easy Livin'’ by Uriah Heep. The verse melody came to me and I loved it instantly. I had the ‘Jack the Ripper’ vinyl by Screaming Lord Sutch laying out, and I remember looking at it and thinking, ‘Yeah, I should make a Ripper track out of this.’ I went over and grabbed my guitar and the riff just spilled out almost exactly as it is on the record.”
Witchfinder General “As a movie nerd, I love all those old Witchfinder films from the ’70s, like Mark of the Devil and such—but the best one is 1968’s Witchfinder General. Vincent Price played the part with creepy perfection. The song is a breakneck-speed tribute to his character from that film.”
Not of This Earth “On this album, I was really going for a straight tribute to my heroes and influences. Lyrically, this song is a tribute to Roger Corman's 1957 drive-in sci-fi/horror classic [of the same name]. As much as I think we're inspired by Hammer Films and classic European gothic horror, Corman is just as important and certainly an American treasure.”
The Ones Who Own the Dark “The riff on this song is the first spark that kicked off the writing. I remember thinking it had a cool Social Distortion vibe, and I was loving it. It’s a tribute to all the occult horror films from the ’70s—not one specifically, but films like The Mephisto Waltz, The Sentinel, and plenty of other sleazy masterpieces.”
Waking the Dead “I wanted this album to be heavy on fun horror anthems. In my head, this one is about a drive-in theater that was opened on top of an ancient graveyard. It’s classic zombie stuff: The dead are tired of all the rowdy drive-in kids, so they raise from their graves and eat their brains. I mean, it could happen, right? What’s not to love?”
Night of the Witch “This is the only song that had been around for a while—a long while. I first recorded this in the late ’90s as my music project called Coffin Moth. It’s one I had always liked and wanted to rerecord at some point, and this album seemed like the right fit. To me, it’s equal parts Bauhaus and Judas Priest. It’s about taking a night walk through the woods and discovering a coven of witches in the midst of a spectacular ritual.”
We Are the Damned “I was going for that booming, anthemic vibe here. It’s about reflecting on all the bad stuff you did in life and realizing your soul is doomed but also realizing you’re OK with that. When weighing heaven or hell, hell seems like a lot more fun anyway—so might as well pursue your glory down below.”
The Brain That Wouldn't Die "When the wife and I were bingeing old horror trash during the lockdown, she put on Frankenhooker, the old Frank Henenlotter movie. I had a song and melody I was working on at the time that I didn't have a title or lyrics for yet. Frankenhooker got me thinking about the 1962 classic The Brain That Wouldn't Die, which has a very similar plot to Frankenhooker...except there's no super crack or nudity. Shortly after, the song was born."
Lucifer’s Light “We really liked this song but struggled with where to put it on the album because it was so different—being a slower, atmospheric acoustic track. I like where it landed, but many have told me I should have put it sooner in the album because it’s a strong track. Sometimes when deciding on the sequence, you just surrender.”
I Spit on Your Corpse “It’s meant to be a little nihilistic humor. It’s about fantasizing that someone you really don’t like finally dies and you don’t have to deal with them anymore. Like the saying ‘I’ll dance on your grave,’ or whatever. The title was lovingly lifted from Al Adamson’s 1974 exploitation film, but the title only. His film was about drug smuggling or something like that.”
