Hammers of Misfortune is an American progressive metal band from San Francisco, California. the musical style of the band varies from album to album, incorporating at the same time different sound elements of folk metal, doom metal, NWOBHM, black metal, 1970s rock, and thrash metal. The band is founded by guitarist John Cobbett, both producer and composer of the band.
Hammers of Misfortune was formed in the mid-1990s under the original name of Unholy Cadaver . At that time, the line-up consisted of only two members: the guitarist John Cobbett and the drummer Chewy Marzolo, who shared the pieces with the song. With the help of other musicians, including Mike Scalzi from The Lord Weird Slough Feg, they record a studio album. However, only three of their music appear in their Demo No. 1, while most of the other songs will not be released until 2011 in the LP Unholy Cadaver distributed to Shadow Kingdom Records. The first release of Unholy Cadaver demonstrates the musical style of Hammers of Misfortune, and elements of death metal (mainly with the voice of John Cobbett), who will later be represented in future recordings.
In 2000, the band changed its name to Hammers of Misfortune, taken from one of their titles under Unholy Cadaver. After the arrival of Scalzi and Janis Tanaka (former members of Fireball Ministry and L7), the group released its concept album, The Bastard , label Tumult Records. The Bastard is well received by the metal scene, and is rewarded with "best album in 2001" by magazines such as Terrorizer and Lamentations Of The Princess Flame >.
In 2003, the band signed a contract with Cruz Del Sur Music, and released his second album, The August Engine , at the end of 'year. This album is well received with a 10 out of 10 from Brave Words and Bloody Knuckles , among others. After the release of The August Engine , Janis Tanaka leaves the group and is replaced by Jamie Myers>. Following the release of the album The Locust Years , the band undergoes changes in its line-up. Mike Scalzi leaves the band to concentrate on his band, The Lord Weird Slough Feg, and Jamie Myers, who will prefer to take care of his family. Scalzi is replaced by Patrick Goodwin, and Myers by Jesse Quattro. The first drummer of the group, Chewy, leaves then joins the group>. With this new line-up, the band released the double album, "Fields / Church of Broken Glass , in 2008. However, this line-up will be undergoing further changes: Quattro and Goodwin leave the group in 2010. Cobbett later recruits guitarist and singer Leila Abdul-Rauf and singer Joe Hutton.
In March 2010, Hammers of Misfortune announces its deal with Metal Blade Records. From then on, Metal Blade redistributes albums The Bastard , The August Engine , The Locust Years , and Fields / Church of Broken Glass > span. In October 2011, the band released their fifth studio album "17th Street" .
