Demolition Hammer arrived on the East Coast thrash metal scene circa 1986. The original line-up consisted of Steve Reynolds as the vocalist and on bass, James Reilly on guitar, and John Salerno on drums. Their first demo tape, Skull Fracturing Nightmare, was released in 1988. It gained notice from fans of the genre and independent record labels. Derek Sykes was brought in as a second guitarist and Vincent Civitano (a.k.a. Vinny Daze) replaced Salerno. Their second demo, Necrology, secured the group a recording contract with Century Media Records.
Their first album, Tortured Existence, was produced by Scott Burns with a small budget. The songs were composed with fast riffs, chunky breakdowns, and expressive guitar solos. In 1992, the band released Epidemic of Violence. The production was clearer and included faster and leaner songs. The covers of these first two releases featured horror based artwork and a logo designed by Daze.
Fast paced thrash metal became less popular in the '90s. Daze and Reilly left the band to form the group Deviate NY. Former Malevolent Creation drummer Alex Marquez joined Reynolds and Sykes to write material for another project. The label wished to release the songs with the band's original name. The result was the 1994 album Time Bomb with a new Demolition Hammer logo on the cover. It was slower and lacked guitar solos. The style was similar to that of groups like Pantera and Machine Head.
Marquez and Reynolds were offered new gigs with Solstice. Daze died of globefish poisoning while traveling in Africa on March 11, 1996. With Demolition Hammer's music becoming increasingly hard to come by, Century Media released Necrology: A Complete Anthology in 2008. It included every title from their first three albums, two pre-production demos from Time Bomb, and one video clip.
After 22 years of being disbanded, they regrouped in 2016 with Alex Mar
Skull Fracturing Nightmare
Demolition Hammer Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Walls of stone entomb
Torture chamber victim's punishment
Savage execution
Branding iron engraving your flesh
A searing horrid crime
Manacles incarcerate
Prongs impale your eyes
Endure the Iron Maiden
Insidious device
Avoiding vital organs
Coffin laced with spikes
Gruesome tools of torture
Strategically applied
Prolonging mutilation
Condemned and necrotized
Turning hte screw, increasing the force
Cranial compression
Pressure of the skullcap, crushing teeth
Cerebral explosion
Sentenced to a death of agony
Shattered broken bones
Lifeless limbs are threaded through
Reticulated spokes
Execution of the trees
Violent wretching rage
Agonized dismemberment
Limbs are disengaged
Contortion of extremities
Horrors of the rack
Stretching process, ripping flesh
Spate of boiling water
Funneled down the throat
Pressure on the heart and lungs
Turgid body bloats
Gruesome tools of torture
Stategically applied
Prolonging mutilation
Condemned and necrotized
Sacrificing lives with apathy
Torturing their captives ruthlessly
Misery and anguish, morbid pleas
Forgotten ghastly atrocities
Crushing bones in a cold steel vise
Decadence of life
Mass strangulation, organs crimp and bind
Diseased wounds fester, neglected
Painfully infected
Interrogation perforce confession
Begging death for reprieve
Sacrificing lives with apathy
Torturing their captives ruthlessly
Misery and anguish, morbid pleas
Forgotten ghastly atrocities
Violent requittal
The lyrics of Demolition Hammer's "Skull Fracturing Nightmare" depict a gruesome world of horror and pain. The song is a narrative of torture and execution, where shackles, chains, and bloody meat symbolize the ubiquitous violence that pervades the environment. The walls of stone entomb the torture chamber's victims who endure savage executions, branding irons engraving their flesh, and prongs impaling their eyes. The Iron Maiden, a notorious torture device, is used as a tool of prolonged mutilation. It's a device that is strategically applied, avoiding vital organs, and leaving the coffin laced with spikes. The "gruesome tools of torture" prolong the agony of the condemned, culminating in necrosis and death.
Turning the screw, increasing the force, and cranial compression are techniques used to induce cerebral explosions that shatter bones and thread lifeless limbs through reticulated spokes. Limbs are disengaged from the torso, and extremities are contorted on the rack, ripping flesh, and causing vertebrae collapse. Boiling water is funneled down the throat, turgid bodies bloat, and there is pressure on the heart and lungs. The gruesome tools of torture are strategically applied, prolonging mutilation, condemning, and necrotizing the captives.
Throughout the song, the lyrics speak of the apathy and ruthlessness shown by the executioners as they sacrifice lives, torture captives, and forget the ghastly atrocities that they commit. The violence portrayed in this song is visceral and gruesome, leaving the listener to ponder the depths of human depravity.
Line by Line Meaning
Shackles and chains and bloody meat
People are trapped, restrained, and subjected to brutal violence.
Walls of stone entomb
The victims are enclosed and trapped within these walls, suffering endlessly.
Torture chamber victim's punishment
The prisoners are being tortured as a form of punishment, with little hope of escape or freedom.
Savage execution
The captives are subjected to barbaric forms of execution, causing immense pain and suffering.
Branding iron engraving your flesh
The captives are being marked with the painful, permanent scars of their captivity and torture.
A searing horrid crime
The crimes of the captors are truly terrible, causing immense pain and suffering to their victims.
Manacles incarcerate
The prisoners are chained and locked away, with little hope for freedom.
Prongs impale your eyes
The captors are using horrific tools of torture, causing pain and damage to the most sensitive parts of their victims.
Endure the Iron Maiden
The victims are forced to face the painful, agonizing Iron Maiden device, experiencing prolonged suffering and torment.
Insidious device
The device is designed to cause suffering and agony, inflicting as much pain as possible.
Avoiding vital organs
The torturers are careful to avoid causing immediate death, prolonging the suffering and torture of the victims for as long as possible.
Coffin laced with spikes
The victims are forced into a coffin-like device with spikes, causing pain and injury as they struggle to escape.
Gruesome tools of torture
The captors are using horrific devices and instruments to cause immense pain and suffering to their victims.
Strategically applied
The instruments are being used with a specific purpose, inflicting maximum pain and suffering on the victims.
Prolonging mutilation
The torture is being drawn out, causing prolonged suffering and agony for the captives.
Condemned and necrotized
The victims are being subjected to a gruesome, torturous death, slowly decaying and wasting away under the captors' cruelty.
Turning the screw, increasing the force
The captors are slowly and steadily applying more and more force, causing immense pain and pressure on the victim's skull.
Cranial compression
The victim's skull is being squeezed and compressed, causing immense pain and pressure in their head.
Pressure of the skullcap, crushing teeth
The pressure on the victim's skull is so intense that it is causing their teeth to shatter and break.
Cerebral explosion
The pressure on the brain is becoming too much to bear, resulting in an explosion and the victim's death.
Sentenced to a death of agony
The captives have been condemned to a gruesome and painful death, with no hope of escape or mercy.
Shattered broken bones
The captors are breaking the bones of their victims, causing immense pain and suffering.
Lifeless limbs are threaded through
The victims are already dead or dying, and their limbs are being threaded through spikes and other sharp objects.
Reticulated spokes
The spokes are arranged in a pattern, causing even more pain and damage to the already suffering victim.
Execution of the trees
The captors are treating their victims with the same level of violence and cruelty as they would a tree or other inanimate object.
Violent wretching rage
The victims are experiencing an intense, violent rage, lashing out at their captors with all their might.
Agonized dismemberment
The captives are being slowly and painfully dismembered, experiencing unimaginable agony and pain.
Limbs are disengaged
The limbs of the victims are being forcibly separated from their bodies, causing immense pain and lasting damage.
Contortion of extremities
The victims are being twisted and bent in painful, unnatural ways, causing lasting damage and excruciating pain.
Horrors of the rack
The captors are using a rack, causing the victim's body to be stretched and twisted, causing immense pain and physical damage.
Stretching process, ripping flesh
The stretching is so intense that it is ripping the flesh of the victim's body apart, causing immense pain and suffering.
Vertebrae collapse
The stretching and contortion of the spinal column is causing it to collapse, causing immense pain and lasting damage.
Spate of boiling water
The captors are pouring boiling water onto the bodies of their victims, causing immense pain and lasting damage.
Funneled down the throat
The boiling water is being forced down the victim's throat, causing damage and pain throughout their body.
Pressure on the heart and lungs
The heat and pressure on the chest is causing immense pain, making it difficult or even impossible for the victim to breathe.
Turgid body bloats
The victim's body is bloating and swelling under the intense heat and pressure, causing extreme amounts of pain.
Sacrificing lives with apathy
The captors are taking the lives of their victims without concern or empathy, causing immense pain and suffering along the way.
Torturing their captives ruthlessly
The captors are subjecting their prisoners to brutal, unrelenting torture, causing immense pain and suffering.
Misery and anguish, morbid pleas
The captives are begging for mercy and relief from their pain and suffering, but the captors show no mercy or compassion.
Forgotten ghastly atrocities
The horrors and atrocities committed by the captors are being swept under the rug, forgotten and ignored by the rest of society.
Crushing bones in a cold steel vise
The captors are using a cold, soulless machine to crush the bones of their victims, causing immense pain and suffering.
Decadence of life
The victims are being robbed of their lives and vitality, left to suffer and die in agony.
Mass strangulation, organs crimp and bind
The captors are strangling their victims, causing the organs to crimp and twist under the pressure, causing immense pain and damage.
Diseased wounds fester, neglected
The wounds inflicted by the captors are left to fester and grow worse, causing immense pain and suffering.
Painfully infected
The wounds are so badly infected that they are causing immense pain and lasting damage, even beyond the torture itself.
Interrogation perforce confession
The captors are using torture as a means of interrogation, forcing their victims to confess to crimes they may or may not have committed.
Begging death for reprieve
The captives are so badly tortured and suffering that they are begging for death as a means of escape from their unbearable agony.
Violent requittal
The captors are exacting a violent and terrible revenge on their victims, causing immense pain and suffering for perceived slights or crimes.
Contributed by Jake L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.