BodyHammer

BodyHammer is a noise rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, active from 1997 to 2002. The group plays a noisy, screamy, often chaotic form of hardcore and is described as being close in spirit to Born Against; it also covers Born Against’s “Mary and Child”.

History

The band starts in 1997 as a three-piece with Mike Harpring, Corey Lyons and Andy Schanie. A line-up change follows in 1998, when Thommy Browne joins on drums. Harpring then moves temporarily to bass before returning to drums after Browne leaves. Ben Cundiff takes over bass duties, while Andy Schanie moves from bass and vocals to vocals only, helping to shape the band’s live sound.

Corey Lyons leaves to attend Antioch College, and the group later goes through further changes. He returns in the summer of 2000 with the intention of training his replacement, Eric Young, before leaving again for a summer internship in Boston. Instead, he stays in Louisville, and the pair’s brief overlap leads to a second east coast tour and the album Die Young Amplifiers. The band continues through a series of line-up changes until it ends in 2002, before a further recorded release can come out.

Performances and releases

BodyHammer undertakes two east coast tours, in 1999 and 2000. It plays shows with a wide range of hardcore, punk and heavy bands including the Locust, Creation is Crucifiction, Catharsis, Converge, Isis, Majority Rule, Mastodon and Murder City Devils.

The band is also associated with SmokeSkull Records, and is identified as a Polish producer releasing on that label.