Let me start by saying that this album has been long coming. My first real concert was about four years just before Living Sacrifice put out Reborn. Zao and Living Sacrifice played. In fact, Zao was just getting ready to release The Splinter Shards the Birth of Separation. Well, here it is four years later. Comparatively, Zao has since turned the music world upside down with two more full lengths and a split EP and just finished their next full length. Sure, Living Sacrifice re-released all their old stuff, but being a true fan, I already had it all. I just kinda looked at the new covers and then put them back on the shelf. So, the question I'm sure you're asking yourself by now is, "was it worth the wait?" My answer to you is no - it was WELL worth the wait. My fellow metal lover, prepare to feast upon The Hammering Process. These guys have gone a direction that makes Reborn sound like a lesser stepbrother. Even the teaser two-song tape they've had since around Cornerstone doesn't prepare you for this massive metal onslaught. I wore Bloodwork out on that tape but have fallen in love with it anew. If you like your metalcore thick, brutal and relentless, look no further for the next addition to your collection. From the opening track Flatline, to the last Conditional, Living Sacrifice sets the new standard for metal. Included in The Hammering Process are more breakdowns than you can handle and chunky enough to choke a donkey. Living Sacrifice even incorporates very nicely done singing vocals. Their track Perfect, which is getting some radio time, is a fine example of such singing. Without doubt, Living Sacrifice redefines their sound with this tasteful addition. Also, Living Sacrifice shows further their maturity with the addition of a percussionist which adds a perfect flavor to the mayhem. My only complaint on the disc is the incorporation of guitar solos. I have never been a fan of solos. In fact, they are what eventually turned me off from Inhabit. There are about four songs that I personally think could have done without the solos. However, Burn The End has a killer solo. Anyway, whether you like solos or not, you're ripping yourself off if you don't get this cd as soon as possible. If I could, I would make it mandatory listening for all metal fans everywhere.
9.5/10
Other coverage for this album
HM Magazine #91Reviewed by UnknownThe Record Collection, a new vinyl-focused label that digressed into the digital medium for a limited release Snailhuntr CD, brings us two impressive and fully licensed collector's items for the hard music audiophile. The first is the first-pressing of Living Sacrifice's The Hammering Process LP on 12" vinyl of assorted colors. All poly-bagged with an insert (but no lyric sheet), the records come…HM Magazine #86Reviewed by Melba JacksonMy grandson, Jesse, gave me this CD and said, "Spin this, gramma! Maybe you can write a review for this magazine." Now, I've never written an album review before, but I know what I like. And I hate this. First of all, these boys from Little Rock do not know how to sing! I feel sorry for Bruce Fitzhugh's mother, because this boy obviously forgot everything he learned in choir. Now, his…Bandoppler 2000Reviewed by Chad OlsonThe wait is finally over. The new Living Sacrifice album has arrived. Three years in the making, Bruce Fitzhugh and company have created a metal onslaught sure to become a masterpiece in the collections of metalcore fans. With new lead guitarist Rocky Gray, new bassist Arthur Green, and the addition of percussionist Matthew Putman (the latter 2 formerly of Eso Charis), Fitzhugh and drummer Lance…Art for the Ears 2000Reviewed by Marco PovervestA highly anticipated release from Solid State, that's what you can say about The Hammering Process. With the release of Reborn, Living Sacrifice's previous album, the band gained lots of new enthusiastic fans and inspired many hard bands worldwide. The Hammering Process features a new line-up as the Truby brothers left the band. They are replaced by three guys. Two of them were part of…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by the ProjectOh boy hold on tight because The Hammering Process is a wild and crazy ride. This is groove/death metal at its finest. I could not believe what I was hearing was Living Sacrifice. The past albums were harder, and more blistering than the past albums. The lyrics were totally amazing with heartfelt angst and aggression. This band has been around the block many times and rounds it again with this. I…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by undeadEvery so often, there are bands that sit atop a pinnacle in the music spectrum. As in this particular case, they wait four or five years between albums, in hopes that the fans will be crazed for new material. In this case, nearly five years has passed since Reborn was released, which exceeded the expectations of most fans, excluding myself. Reborn was a drastic step from its death metal…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by thOrNThis review is sorta my rebuttal against the other reviews.... Ok I will come right out and give it a 10. My fellow writers I think are afraid to do this. There is no denying Living Sacrifice's place in all our hearts. We all love them. And there is no denying the crushin power of this album. I saw LS a few weeks before this album came out and what I saw made me salivate for this album. So come…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by GrindboyDo you understand this band? With about as stable of a lineup as you could hope for in the Christian scene, they put out 4 shockingly different records. Then they take a 3 year break between albums, undergo gargantuan lineup changes... and the sound stays generally the same as last time. Do you understand this band? Despite the opening here though, this cd is pretty much exactly what I expected.…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by CrusaderToday is November 7th. It's a day that unveils the fruit of a 3 year wait for LS fans. Your typical first reviews of this cd will come from writers who rushed to the store today to obtain a copy.. fumbling for the keys to their car with purchase in hand, a gleam in their eye as they shove one in the ignition and after a brief but agonizing struggle with the shrink wrap, pop into their cd player..…Dead Zine 2000Reviewed by D_Lister3 years in the making and the wait ends. Like the other reviews so far (11-11-00) I've had the pre-release of this CD for a few weeks now. I've been waiting to review it simply because I wanted to fully digest the material here. With that said I can honestly say that Living Sacrifice are nothing short of Christian metal kings! They've got history, and future all in one. To be honest when I saw…Similar sounding releases
2000Society's FinestThe Journey...So Far
2003ZaoLegendary
2001HospitalStare
2001Brain:FAQBrainstorming
2000Project 86Drawing Black Lines
2005UnearthOur Days of EulogyMore from Living Sacrifice
1990No Yielding to Ungodly
2002Conceived In Fire
1994Inhabit
1991Living Sacrifice
1993Metamorphosis
2005In Memoriam
