(Sleaszy Rider Records)
Total Time: 46:39
“Holocaust”. Who? These “old guys” covered by GAMMA RAY, SIX FEET UNDER and METALLICA?? Do they still exist?? Oh yes my friends! They are here and they are still releasing albums. They even have a new album entitled “Elder Gods”. Oh yes? Wow! Is this possible? Let’s find out… Hmmm … modern heavy sound, they remind me something of KILLING JOKE in aesthetics. The vocals look a bit like THE CULT but in their most “chaotic” way. The production is a bit clunky, relatively modern as it should be, without betraying the band’s old-fashioned style and pure rock backgrounds. We also have a few electronic samples to “dress” the 2nd track with a glue though. A nice semi-acoustic introduction to “Ishtar” brings to mind the great “Cemetary Gates” of PANTERA as well as “Victim of Changes” song by JUDAS PRIEST. A very interesting piece, epic until its classic NEW WAVE outburst.
Great vocals by Garry Lettice. Nice cut in the middle of the album with John Mortimer’s guitar effects to accommodate the “Eon of Horus” riff stack. Negative fact the big duration of many tracks (in a sense of “epic” style), becoming somewhat repetitive and tiring. HOLOCAUST continue the same pattern in “Astaroth” until the next “Solaris” – highlight of the album – nice dark atmosphere with good ideas on guitars and vocals, a clear DARK WAVE track at its “hard” side, as KILLING JOKE, would like to have it also written.
Listening to the whole record I would say that I was not particularly excited. During some introductions of songs, I caught myself saying “oh! That’s how they start again …”. In many points they are repetitive and tiring. Unlike their previous albums (“Predator”, “Primal”), which were more authentic, true, heavier including more “fun”, here we have a dark, introspective album, tiring (as its title implies), at the boundaries of apathy, which tends to tear over time. On the one hand, it’s nice to see old bands revive a new youth, but unfortunately in this case, it’s sad for a legendary band like HOLOCAUST “chasing ghosts” and even “pull it out of their hair”. I don’t know about you, but after that I heard “Heavy Metal Mania” once again!
Rating: 5
Nikos Mathiopoulos
Related Link: HOLOCAUST – Facebook Page
