A few years ago, I had gotten sucked into the YouTube black hole, looking for a music video, then getting sidetracked seemingly for hours, checking out different bands and such. It was on one of these excursions, that I stumbled across a video for a song called The Town that Dreaded Sundown. I clicked on it, wondering if it had anything to do with the movie. It did. What I didn’t expect was the sound and style of music. The band was called Bloody Hammers, and I quickly started to check out some of their other videos, like for Death Does Us Part. They do an amazing job not really fitting into one particular musical style. Part hard rock, gothic, maybe even a little doom metal, but it had a very unique sound and it grabbed me right away. I quickly ordered a couple of their CDs and immediately became entranced them. I found it interesting, that like The Misfits, they had a lot of song titles taken from horror movies titles, but other than the previously mentioned Sundown, they didn’t have anything to do with the actual movie. Nonetheless, there was something deep in the lyrics, sometimes like poetry laid in between this heavy sound, that really made a connection with me.

Bloody Hammers is the brain child of husband and wife team of Anders Manga and Devallia. You can tell by their music that they are not only horror fans, but very creative, in both their music as well as their music videos. While I don’t normally cover music on this site besides soundtracks, I felt that their connections to the genre was enough to warrant me getting to know more about them. And they were gracious enough to answer a few questions here. So fans of the Krypt, let me introduce you to Bloody Hammers.

Kitley’s Krypt: When were you first drawn to the horror genre?

Anders Manga: It’s hard to remember because my childhood memories are pretty fuzzy but I remember going to the Drive-In with my mom and sister for one of those marathon nights. I think we went to see Grease but after that a movie called Magic with Anthony Hopkins came on. It was this weird and sort of surreal drama/horror where he plays this wacko ventriloquist. In recent years when I saw it, it wasn’t so scary but when I was 6 years old or whatever it was disturbing.

Devallia: In the ’80s while spending the night at my friend’s house. She fell asleep with the TV on, but I couldn’t sleep. Friday the 13th came on and I was instantly hooked.

KK: I’m jealous that you got to see Magic at the drive-in. Dolls like that are always creepy. Do you remember the first movie that really made an impact on you?

A: Without a doubt An American Werewolf in London. In my opinion that was a perfect film. The pacing, the horror, the comedy, the soundtrack, the effects… just perfect. I hear rumors of a remake but that would be just pissing money away. I don’t think anyone would care because in HD, the original looks like it was made yesterday. 

KK: Glad to hear that. There is usually two werewolf camps: American Werewolf and The Howling. I’m with you, American Werewolf all the way. Just stay away from the Paris sequel. Ugh.

A: I’m not much into remakes unless you can make the movie better. Like, I think someone could make Nail Gun Massacre better… that shouldn’t be too hard but when they remake movies that are already great… I don’t get it.

KK: That remake is an argument that has gone on for as long cinema has been around. I’m on both sides of the fence. If it wasn’t for remakes, we wouldn’t have films like Carpenter’s The Thing or Cronenberg’s The Fly, or even more recent, Evil Dead. But in general, I would agree, then tend not to be that good. It’s one of those double-edged swords.

D: Evil Dead 2. I had been fascinated by the box cover for years, and finally rented the VHS from a grocery store near my first apartment. The employee told me that was the most commonly stolen movie from their store. I followed the ‘Be Kind – Please Rewind’ sticker before returning it. I love horror movies with a twist of comedy.

KK: I always love hearing those video store stories, like a grocery store that rented videos. All these different weird places we got our fixes! Do you have a favorite title now? Or maybe a sub-genre that you enjoy?

A: I was really digging those kinda retro inspired horror movies that were coming out a few years back, like House of the Devil, Starry Eyes, It Follows… stuff with cool synth scores.

KK: Those are all great films. Have you seen Southbound? Another great score, done by the son of Nick Castle from Halloween. Very Carpenter-feel to it. And a good film. What would be a film that you’d say doesn’t get enough love and attention?

A: Hmm… Maybe Mephisto Waltz, The Sentinel, Altered States, The Thirst… however, I love all the schlock and ‘bad’ movies just as much. We’re always putting on stuff like Doom Asylum, Howling II, Terror Vision… all those silly 80’s horror/comedies with Return of the Living Dead (1985) being the top treasure. Not much is TOO bad.

KK: Great titles, especially The Sentinel. I’m also a big fan of the cheesier stuff. I’ve always agreed that if it is entertaining, then it can’t be a bad movie!

D: The Greasy Strangler. I also love the soundtrack.

KK: When did music become part of your life?

A: As long as I can remember. The first thing to really strike me as a kid was Cars by Gary Numan. Mom (rest in peace) got me the 45 back when it came out. I fell in love with synths and that cold sound Gary was doing back then. Next is when I discovered Night Flight, a music video show that came on cable back in the 80s. I discovered Dio, Twisted Sister, Alice Cooper, Judas Priest… all that awesome early 80’s metal. I knew then, I had to figure out how to rock haha.

KK: While I was a die-hard hard rock/heavy metal kid of the ’80s, when Numan’s Cars came out, there was something strange about it and just stayed in my head.

D: During the Satanic Panic of the 1980s my mother made me destroy my favorite cassette tape while she watched. In her opinion, the Beach Boys were purely Satanic! From then on, only classical or Christian music was allowed. In the early 90s I managed to break away from that and discovered Metallica and was also recording a ‘Modern Music’ show that came on the radio late at night. My friend gave me a Skinny Puppy tape, which I loved for being so much the opposite of what I was allowed to listen to as a child.

KK: I had a friend of mine that went head first into religion and ended up burning his amazing record collection because it was the “Devil’s music”. I tried to convince him I would just hold on to them until he came to his senses, but he didn’t want to help corrupt anybody else. Those were strange times. How did Bloody Hammers originate? And is the band now pretty much you and your wife?

A: I’ve been recording music for a long time just as a hobby by myself. As an introvert, I was never much into working with other people. I’ve tried in the past but it was always a little awkward when there are too many egos involved. I like to go to my humble home studio when an idea arises and build songs from the ground up. 

I realized I had 10 songs sitting pretty much done back in 2011 or so and figured I’d just throw ’em on Bandcamp and maybe 3 people would find them and I’d go about my life. I thought it would go over better if it was presented as a ‘band’ name. So, Devallia and I thought up a bunch of names but it’s really hard to find a name that hasn’t been taken. We finally settled on Bloody Hammers after a song by one of my favorite artists, Roky Erickson. I didn’t think it mattered that much because I figured it wasn’t going to go anywhere anyway. I wish now, I would have called it something else because the name is so brutal haha… people figure it’s death metal or something. 

Anyway, just a day or so later some labels were contacting me wanting to release the vinyl. I was really surprised that any label would want to release a record from a ‘band’ that hasn’t been touring for years and all that. So yeah, long story short, we ended up signing with Napalm and have been there ever since.

To answer your other question, yes I write and record the songs but my wife, Devallia is very important as a person I can bounce ideas off of, an extra set of ears for mixes and she can also play bass and keyboards so if we need to do shows, she can do one or the other. 

D: While Anders was writing The Witching Hour for the first Bloody Hammers album, I was doing a photo shoot with a model named Veronica. At the end of the shoot before she put her street clothes back on, I asked her to quickly put on a goat mask I bought from Screwbiter Studios and handed her some torches. When Anders saw the picture, he instantly knew he wanted that to be the cover photo for the album.

KK: It is a very effective cover and I love how it just happened. Great story. Bloody Hammers music seem to cross and blend many genres, but still keeps the same feeling and sound. Your voice, Anders, is one obvious reason, but the overall sound has such a unique tone that really grabs the listener. I know it did me with titles like What’s Haunting You and The Town that Dreaded Sundown. Was that what you were looking for when the band started or did it just happen?

A: I never wanted to be a one-dimensional songwriter. I love bands like AC/DC but you know exactly what you’re getting when you buy a new AC/DC record. I like to experiment with different styles and sounds and I realize that can be frustrating to some people who want to nail you down to one specific genre but that’s just not me. 

KK: I think that is the one thing that I like about the band’s songs over the different albums. They can have a different feel or style, but they still have that connection because of your voice, but also the sound, whether it be the guitar sound or the little bit of keyboard in the background, such in the title track from your album The Summoning. It gives it a very unique sound that I think is highly memorable, and damn effective!

D: Anders’ musical taste is all over the place, which is very much reflected in his sound. He is just too rebellious to color within the lines of a specific genre. Reviewers have even mentioned this before, because they have difficulty with assigning it a category. 

KK: As for your other songs, I love the way they are written, not your standard format by any means. They’re almost like poetry put to music, but they still blend seamlessly with the melodies and music. Do you start with a title and write the song from there? Or a melody first? Or does it vary?

A: They manifest themselves in many ways. Most times, it’s some vocal melody that pops in my head. Other times it can be a guitar riff… maybe some drum beat I’m playing. So yeah, it varies.

KK: Your recent videos seem to have ramped up the look and feel, such as the look of a silent movie for From Beyond the Grave. Not big productions but very stylized and damn cool looking. Are you and your wife the main producers of these? Have you ever thought about getting into filmmaking?

A: Yeah, that would be fun. We thought about making the movie Hexed… the story I wrote to go along with the Terrortron album. It would be fun to make any of those Terrortron albums actual movies, especially Necrophiliac Among the Living Dead. That would be a blast. It’s just a matter of funds. A big risk.

D: The look of our more recent videos is due to shooting mostly indoors, and having to be very resourceful with what we have to work with. We have limited access to actors, actresses and videographers who would be willing to participate in what we do, and the landscape here does not really lend itself well to horror themes without becoming repetitive.

KK: You have a lot of song titles that are movie titles, but I believe Town that Dreaded Sundown is the only one that is actually about the film. Why that film?

A: I guess since it was a true crime story. Other songs, I tend to zone out and re-imagine the title into something else. During COVID lockdown, Devallia and I were drinking and jamming in the basement as we do. Several songs emerged and most are based on old horror movies literally. With all that’s going on, we just wanted to do something simple, nothing too technical, just raw rock n’ roll. Misfits, 45 Grave, Stooges… stuff like that. Not sure yet if it’s going to be a Hammers album, but maybe.

KK: Let me throw out some of your song titles (admittedly some of my favorites) and give me some background about them. What they are about, their genesis, or any story about them you want to tell? Beyond the Door, off the first Bloody Hammers album.

A: That’s been a long time ago now… hmm. I think I was writing literally about the old Ovidio G. Assonitis film from the 70s. I wish I could remember where my head was.

KK: From your latest album The Summoning, what about Let Sleeping Corpses Lie? I read in an interview that this was about dealing with loss and death, and a “metaphor for letting go”. Not what I would have expected but once listening to the lyrics after I read that it makes it an even more powerful song. Could you expand on that?

A: To me, it’s about letting go of anything negative that’s haunting you. About facing your fears and overcoming them. It’s about a lot of things in my head really. Losing my sister around that time and being pissed at big pharma and doctors who got her hooked on opioids. Oddly, I was in that mood to write something positive but with a horror double meaning. I don’t want to sound too pretentious but, I don’t know. I try not to over analyze the songs, many times they’re a stream of consciousness and I have no idea what I’m talking about haha.

 

KK: From the album Under Satan’s Skin, which is where I first stumbled across your music, besides The Town that Dreaded Sundown, Death Does Us Part was another one that really hooked me. The video gave me a strong feeling of old gangsters, like Bonnie and Clyde. Was that the original intention or just where the video took it?

A: Yeah it was an exaggerated song about Devallia and I with yeah, a Bonnie and Clyde slant. 

KK: Also from that same album, Dead Man’s Shadow on the Wall. I just love the whole ‘curse’ theme.

A: That was based on some old North Carolina folklore called ‘Dead Dan’s Shadow’ about a man named Daniel Keith who was hanged. I love all the old stories. Here it is if your readers would like to give it a quick read:
http://www.angelfire.com/in/lottgreene/hallodan.html

KK: I love that there are these old stories out there that in fear of being forgotten, so kudos to you for doing your part keeping them alive. I also read you’re a big fan of horror soundtracks. Do you remember the first movie where you were consciously aware of the score?

A: I wish I could say something more original but Carpenter’s Halloween was the track that got us all who grew up in the 70s/80s.

KK: That started a lot of us on soundtracks. What are some of your favorite film scores? Favorite composers?

A: Fabio Frizzi scores with The Beyond being my favorite. I used to think House by the Cemetery was Frizzi but turns out it’s Walter Rizzati but he really did a good job. Although the main theme sounds like it borrowed from the Alice Cooper track Steven. Bruno Nicolai’s non western stuff like All the Colors of the Dark, The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave. Popol Vuh’s stuff like Cobra Verde & Nosferatu. Most all soundtracks to Jess Franco’s early 70s films. I really like Piero Piccioni’s stuff as well. Camille 2000 is one of my favorite non-horror soundtracks.

KK: Don’t feel bad because I used to think the same thing about the House by the Cemetery score and Frizzi. And yes, I’m glad you brought that up about Cooper’s Steven, and I’m not the only one that saw the similarities! I found Vuh’s score for Nosferatu at a record store in Manhattan back in the late ’90s and couldn’t believe how slow and effective it is.

I guess this leads us to your side project TerrorTron, which is like movie soundtracks but no movie. How did this whole project come about?

A: I’m always writing these little themes and realized I had enough one day to put out a record. I called it Hexed and presented it as this movie that was released in the early 80s. I released it online as ‘Anders Manga’. There was a great reaction and it was getting loads of downloads so I figured I should give the project its own name. Terrortron was actually the first name to pop in my head and I couldn’t think of anything better. 

D: When Anders starts working on a new Terrortron album I get really excited because we have a lot of laughs together when coming up with song titles.

KK: I think the album titles is what really caught my attention right away! I mean, how could you hear a title like Necrophiliac Among the Living Dead and not being interested! But besides that one, which came out in 2016, you’ve also had Hexed in 2015 and Orgy of the Vampires in 2017, each one with its own particular theme. Can we expect anymore?

A: Yeah I love doing that project. I’m thinking Halloween 2021 for a new album.

KK: Thank you both for taking the time to chat with us. My moniker for this site is Discover the Horror, meaning to always be looking for new things within the genre. So I hope that I can steer a few people into the Bloody Hammers camp with this interview.

You can follow band on Facebook (HERE), or their official website (HERE). To find out more about Terrortron, head to the official site (HERE) or their Facebook page (HERE).