Between the Hammer and the Anvil: This Denver Band Crushes Crossover

Finnish folklore, J.R.R. Tolkien and Teutonic thrash metal make up the mad mix you didn’t know you needed. But that’s exactly what Denver mettalion Ukko’s Hammer is serving up. Moving unlike any other band in the underground, the five-piece is redefining what it means to be a “crossover” band.

“Usually, it’s hardcore and metal put together, but we’re mixing in a bunch of other different stuff,” says vocalist Zach Reini, as he reveals all the layers and odes included throughout the music medley.

Originally a drum machine-fueled solo project Reini started back in 2020, Ukko’s Hammer is now a full-fledged metal monster, featuring guitarists Andy “Ando” Rauworth and S.Mares “Chon,” bassist Zach Barnes and current Of Feather and Bone drummer Preston Weippert. Human drum machine Eddie Eaton, who mans the kit for several local hardcore and powerviolence groups, has also been filling in live when needed.

Ukko’s Hammer plays Ante Up on Sunday, February 15; local openers Direct Threat and Chain Law round out the matinee bill.

The vision, Reini explains, began with a simple question, “What if Godflesh was a hardcore band?” Pulling from the industrial metal pioneers helped him build Ukko’s Hammer musically.

“It started to evolve from there and get a bit more into crossover,” he says. “Not a lot of bands in town are doing that. I’ve always loved thrash and crossover. I feel like I’m a bit of a metalhead in a hardcore kid disguise.”

And as a third-generation Finn, Reini went back to his roots for lyrical inspiration. The moniker is a reference to the supreme Finnish being known as the god of thunder, sky, weather and fertility in native mythology.

“I was thinking about it, influences, a lot of people, especially in metal, tap into that Norse mythology and it’s been really co-opted by some nefarious characters,” he adds. “That’s not what my background is. I’m not Norse. Finnish as a language is completely separate from old Norse. I use that as a way to tap into that part of my family history.”

The self-titled debut, released last March, includes songs “Hiisi Tanssi,” which roughly translates to “devil dance,” and “Ukonvasara,” the Finnish word for Ukko’s hammer. He read “Kalevala,” Finland’s national 19th-century epic poem that inspired Tolkien’s “The Silmarillion,” and applied more modern context, such as the pivotal role Finnish-American immigrants played in early 20th-century labor movements.

“It’s using the myths, but it’s not in a nationalistic sort of way,” Reini says. “It’s undercutting or recontextualizing it to focus on social justice or the labor movement, everyone’s collective power.”

For example, the closing track “Ukonvasara” can be seen as a socialist cry for equality.  

“I’m talking about destroying Ukko’s hammer and distributing the shards to everyone in the world so they have a bit more power or organizing power so we can create a new optimal world for ourselves,” he explains. “All the folklore and mythology, they’re just stories, so you can do whatever you want with them. What I wanted to do was use the structure of those myths and put my own spin on them to talk about what I want to talk about.”

And heavy themes require heavy music. Metalheads who get down with gritty 1980s speed metal will recognize several references throughout the record, including a nod to German powerhouse Kreator (“Endless Pain”) and the Nuclear Assault shoutout (“New Song”).

“I firmly believe in the power of the stolen riff,” Reini admits. “I’m not the best guitar player, but I can take a good riff from another band and turn it into a pretty decent riff just by trying to emulate it. The lack of skill makes it so it transcribes into something different. I steal — or borrow — riffs all the time. It makes me really happy when someone points it out.”

With the dual attack of Ando and Chon, Ukko’s Hammer is crossing into death metal territory for its latest unreleased material. “Now we can really throw in those schizo solos,” Reini concludes. “We call them the Deicide solo, just random shit, atonal, it doesn’t matter. It’s a big melting pot.”

Ukko’s Hammer, with Direct Threat and Chain Law, 3 p.m. Sunday, February 15, Ante Up, 3120 South Platte River Drive; $15 suggested donation at the door.