Editing Apocalyptic Raids

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Apocalyptic Raids
| type       = EP
| artist     = [[Hellhammer]]
| cover      = ApocalypticRaids.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = March 1984<br>1990 (1990 re-release)
| recorded   = 2–7 March 1984
| venue      =
| studio     = Caet Studio, [[Berlin]]<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/apocalyptic-raids-mw0000310720 | title=Hellhammer - Apocalyptic Raids Album Reviews, Songs & More &#124; AllMusic | website=[[AllMusic]] }}</ref>
| genre      = {{hlist|[[Black metal]]|[[thrash metal]]}}
| length     = 19:41<br>27:03 (1990 re-release)
| label      = [[Noise Records|Noise]]
| producer   = [[Thomas Gabriel Fischer|Tom Warrior]], [[Martin Eric Ain|Martin Ain]], Karl U. Walterbach
| prev_title = [[Satanic Rites]]
| prev_year  = 1983
| next_title = [[Demon Entrails]]
| next_year  = 2008
}}

'''''Apocalyptic Raids''''' is an [[extended play|EP]] by Swiss [[extreme metal]] band [[Hellhammer]]. It was recorded and released in March 1984, and was the band's only commercial release.

The record was a major influence on the then-emerging [[death metal]] and [[black metal]] genres. It has served as an inspiration to such varied and respected bands as [[Napalm Death]] and [[Sepultura]], both of whom recorded cover versions of "Messiah".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/leaders-not-followers-pt-2-mw0000302182 |title=Napalm Death - Leaders Not Followers, Pt. 2 review |last=Rivadavia |first=Eduardo |work=[[AllMusic]] |publisher=[[All Media Network]] |accessdate=28 January 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/revolusongs-mw0000457874 |title=Sepultura - Revolusongs review |last=Loftus |first=Johnny |work=[[AllMusic]] |publisher=[[All Media Network]] |accessdate=28 January 2017 }}</ref>

Hellhammer split up only three months after recording this EP, and later regrouped as [[Celtic Frost]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Fischer |first1=Thomas Gabriel |authorlink=Thomas Gabriel Fischer |title=Are You Morbid?: Into the Pandemonium of Celtic Frost |location=London, UK |publisher=[[Sanctuary Records|Sanctuary]] |year=2000 |page=80 |isbn=978-1860743108 }}</ref> The EP would be reissued six years later as '''''Apocalyptic Raids 1990 A.D.''''', boasting new artwork and two bonus tracks.<ref>{{cite AV media notes |last=Warrior |first=Thomas Gabriel | authorlink = Thomas Gabriel Fischer |year=1990 |chapter=The Macabre Existence of Hellhammer |title=Apocalyptic Raids 1990 A.D. |type=CD booklet |others=[[Hellhammer]] |location=[[Berlin]], Germany |publisher=[[Noise Records]] |page=2 |id= N 0008-3}}</ref>

{{Album ratings
| rev1 = ''[[Martin Popoff|Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal]]''
| rev1Score = 1/10<ref name="martin" >{{cite book | last1 = Popoff | first1 = Martin | authorlink1 = Martin Popoff | title = The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties | publisher = [[Collector's Guide Publishing]] | date = 1 November 2005 | location = [[Burlington, Ontario]], Canada | isbn = 978-1894959315 | page= 156}}</ref>
}}

==Artwork==
The cover art of ''Apocalyptic Raids'' is influenced by [[German Expressionism]]'s stark aesthetic, combining [[monochromaticity]] with the band's blood-red, [[blackletter]]-styled logo.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Simbolismo místico e anticristão em Apocalyptic Raids do Hellhammer |journal=Diversidade Religiosa |year=2015 |last1=Rodriguez de Sá |first1=José Felipe |last2=Ganem Fernandes |first2=Ermelinda |volume=1 |issue=2 |page=4 |issn=2317-0476 |url=http://periodicos.ufpb.br/ojs/index.php/dr/article/view/24235/13840 |accessdate=28 January 2017 | language = Portuguese}}</ref>

==Track listings==
{{Track listing
| headline = Original 1984 release
| title1 = The Third of the Storms (Evoked Damnation)
| writer1 = [[Thomas Gabriel Fischer|Tom G. Warrior]]
| length1 = 2:55
| title2 = Massacra
| writer2 = Warrior
| length2 = 2:49
| title3 = Triumph of Death
| writer3 = Warrior
| length3 = 9:30
| title4 = Horus/Aggressor
| writer4 = Warrior, [[Martin Eric Ain]]
| length4 = 4:27
}}
{{Track listing
| headline = 1990 re-release bonus tracks
| title5 = Revelations of Doom
| writer5 = Warrior, Ain
| length5 = 2:49
| title6 = Messiah
| writer6 = Warrior, Ain
| length6 = 4:33
}}

Tracks 5 and 6 were originally part of the now out-of-print ''[[Death Metal (split album)|Death Metal]]'' (1984) compilation.

==Credits==

===Original 1984 release===
*[[Hellhammer]] – producers
**Satanic Slaughter ({{aka}} [[Thomas Gabriel Fischer|Tom Warrior]]) – [[Electric guitar|V-Axe Holocaust]] (guitar), [[Lead vocalist|Dambuster Vocals]] (lead vocals)
**Slayed Necros (a.k.a. [[Martin Eric Ain|Martin Ain]]) – [[Bass guitar|Deadly Bassdose]] (bass), [[Backing vocalist|Backing Howling...]] (backing vocals)
**Denial Fiend (a.k.a. Bruce Day) – [[Drum kit|Hellish Crossfire on Wooden Coffins]] (drums)
*Horst Mueller – engineer
*[[Thomas Gabriel Fischer|Thomas Fischer]] – cover design, frontcover drawing "The Sitting Death" (© 1984)
*Mr. Jeckyl – heptagram
*Burzelbar – [[Photography|pix]]

===Apocalyptic Raids 1990 A.D.===
* Tom G. Warrior – vocals, guitar, backing vocals
* Martin E. Ain – bass, cover design
* Bruce Day – drums
* Horst Müller – engineer, mixing
* Julia Schechner – layout
* José Posada – illustrations
* Karl U. Walterbach – executive producer

==Charts==
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+Chart performance for ''Apocalyptic Raids''
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2020–2025)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
{{album chart|Germany4|39|id=10648|artist=Hellhammer|album=Apocalyptic Raids|rowheader=true|accessdate=12 June 2020}}
|-
! scope="row"| Greek Albums ([[IFPI Greece|IFPI]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ifpi.gr/charts_en.html|title=Official IFPI Charts Top-75 Albums Sales Chart (Combined) – Εβδομάδα: 09/2025|publisher=[[IFPI Greece]]|access-date=5 March 2025|lang=el|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250305093410/https://www.ifpi.gr/charts_el.html|archive-date=5 March 2025|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| 71
|-
{{album chart|Switzerland|28|artist=Hellhammer|album=Apocalyptic Raids|rowheader=true|accessdate=18 June 2020}}
|}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{Hellhammer}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Hellhammer albums]]
[[Category:Noise Records EPs]]
[[Category:1984 EPs]]
[[Category:1990 EPs]]