Deathcrush — Speed Metal Battery — Hellhammer (Mayhem) Drum Lick | MetalForge
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Learn the Deathcrush — Speed Metal Battery drum lick by Hellhammer of Mayhem. From Deathcrush (Deathcrush EP (1987)). Mayhem's Deathcrush EP (1987) is one of the earliest and most influential documents of what would be...
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1. Hellhammer's Signature Licks — Mayhem's Deathcrush EP (1987) is one of the earliest and most influential documents of what would become the Norwegian black metal scene, and the title track is a direct, ferocious blast of speed that shows Hellhammer already in command of the extreme technique he would develop further over the following decades. "Deathcrush" sits in the tradition of Motörhead and early speed metal as much as it anticipates black metal — the drumming is fast and aggressive, but also locked in to a groove that makes the track feel compulsive in a way that pure blast-beat material does not. The beat is somewhere between a traditional blast and a speed metal kit pattern: the bass drum drives the tempo, the snare provides the primary accent, and the ride cymbal rather than the hi-hat gives the track its grinding, abrasive character. It is a historically significant approach — Hellhammer on "Deathcrush" is doing something that had not quite been done before, blending the speed and aggression of American thrash with a European rawness and nihilism that would become the blueprint for black metal production and performance. The rawness of the 1987 recording is part of what makes the track so effective — the drums cut through a lo-fi mix with a physical presence that overproduced modern recordings often lack, and Hellhammer's performance is correspondingly direct: no excess, no wasted motion, just the forward drive that the song demands. Studying the live performances available on YouTube reveals how the pattern translates to a modern context: the same essential energy, the same forward momentum, unchanged nearly four decades later. For drummers, "Deathcrush" is a study in the fundamentals of extreme metal timekeeping — driving a blast at high tempo with consistent snare and bass drum placement, maintaining ride cymbal independence, and creating a physical urgency that propels the music. These fundamentals apply across every extreme subgenre, making it as relevant a study today as it was in 1987.2. Hellhammer Profile — Drive the tempo with the bass drum, using the snare for the primary accent Use the ride cymbal rather than the hi-hat for an abrasive, cutting texture Lock into a groove within the blast rather than playing it as pure speed Keep motion efficient and direct — no excess strokes, just forward drive Maintain consistent placement so the blast feels inevitable rather than rushed
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