If you're a little disappointed with the new
Metallica album, which despite having some excellent moments isn't free of that long-winded groove curse that has plagued them since the mid 90's, and are looking for some genuine dirty, raw Thrash, then you could do worse than have a listen to this latest release from US Thrash maestro Joel Grind and his band
Toxic Holocaust.
An Overdose Of Death is his 3
rd release under the
Toxic Holocaust banner and is a fast and brutal ride back to the days when Thrash was out to spill your beer, kick you in the stomach then leer over you as you writhe in pain on the edge of the pit.
Again Joel handles all the guitar, bass and vocals on the record but this time he is joined by Donny Paycheck from Seattle punks Zeke who provides the pounding drum beats.
Having heard one of the bands previous releases Evil Never Dies, I knew exactly what to expect. Every one of the thirteen tracks are forceful 3-4 minute numbers which are lent an extra layer of grime by Grunge producer extraordinaire Jack Endio (the man responsible for twiddling-knobs on releases for Nirvana, The Dwarves, Mudhoney and High On Fire). He has got a pretty much perfect sound for
Toxic Holocaust on this album; the drums are pretty high up in the mix with a nice chunky bass sound backing it up. The guitars are scuzzy without losing any definition so you don't miss one of the frantic riffs.
The vocals are styled in a more German Death/Thrash fashion al la
Sodom or
Destruction rather than the more common Bay Area sound, indeed their Thrash is more European in approach with Venom, Motorhead and (early) Celtic
Frost being good reference points along with the aforementioned German scene.
That's not saying that the pioneering American sound is barred from the party. A couple of the songs
, The Lord Of The Wasteland for example, have a prime Joey Belladonna-era
Anthrax sound about them. Oh and Joel's wild hair could almost put that almighty Belladonna bouffant to shame.
This collection of songs definitely features examples of Joel's finest song writing to date. The opening track
Wild Dogs races out of the traps with the finest of punk influenced D-beats and some mean guitar work. The double bass drums during points of this track are excellently executed as is the time change just before the end of the track.
Keeping up the pace,
Nuke The Cross is pretty much exactly what I want from a Thrash song. It's got neck-breaking riffs and slamming drums backed up with over the top anti-religious lyrics and is all over in 2 minutes 48 seconds. Let's face it you're not going to get a more definitive statement then launching a nuclear attack on God are you?
Just when you think the album is going to slow down with the torturous opening chords of
Endless Armageddon it burst to life and continues the albums almost unrelenting velocity (also top marks from the South of Heaven-ish middle section).
To be honest, on the first couple of listens the album can seem a little samey. But on the 3
rd or 4
th listen you understand exactly where the album is coming from it becomes a rather addictive 36 minute blast. I actually found myself listening to it three times in a row before writing this review and really, I could have listened to it at least once or twice more after without getting bored.
Almost every song is excellent there are some very, very addictive chorus lurking in the long, dark shadows of the album. There are several standouts which deserve a mention;
War Is Hell is a fantastically malevolent number with the gleeful rant-along chorus of "
War is fucking hell". Just listen to that snarl in Joel's voice, heated stuff indeed. Also
Feedback, Blood and Distortion is sure to induce exactly what it preaches if unleashed in a live setting.
The best of the bunch is saved till last with
City Of A Million Graves being a fittingly apocalyptic way to round of the album. It opening drum intro brings
Overkill by the mighty Motorhead to mind and let's face it, that's never a bad thing. The song soon comes into its own with some unyielding riffing and a rather catchy chorus. The song breaks down into a crunching breakdown at 2.35, thankfully executed in the proper manner rather than horrid metalcore fashion. This doesn't last long though and soon it all kicks off again for a powerful finale.
So if you like the idea of a record that induces near terminal whiplash after a few listens I believe you should track this little number down. Also the rather garnish front cover features what can only be described as Day-Glo radioactive wolves on a lightning strewn, polluted landscape. Now that's got to be worth buying the album alone for!
Written by
Stuart Monday, October 27, 2008
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