Toxic Holocaust - Hell on Earth (Relapse) 2005
1. Intro (1:26)
2. Metallic Crucifixion (1:48)
3. Arise From The Cemetery (3:01)
4. Send Them To Hell (3:07)
5. Thrashing Death (2:38)
6. Burn (3:06)
7. Death Camp (3:04)
8. Never Stop The Massacre (1:25)
9. Time To Die (1:38)
10. Ready To Fight (3:52)
11. Hell On Earth (2:31)
Toxic Holocaust are one of the buzz bands among the many retro-thrash bands that were populating the scene in the late 2000's. The band was primarily a one-man band, with Joel Grind performing all instruments and hiring various, rotating live bands to back him on tour when he performs guitar and vocals. "Hell on Earth" is the second full length album from Grind. What he has unleashed here is punk-infused, speed-fueled, thrash metal. Grind's vocal style is raw and delivered with a punk like fury and a hint of black metal. The drum work is primal and fairly basic, adding to the punk feel that the album has.
The songs grind along at a fast pace from cut to cut. In general, the songs tend to blend together as the tempos rarely vary. However, with only 11 songs, clocking in at around half an hour, the disc doesn't become tiring to listen to. As such, the disc leaves me wanting for more and had me coming back to it time "and time again. Within the first couple weeks of owning this disc, I found myself listening to this album several times over and the songs begin to become more familiar. "Metallic Crucifixion" is probably my favorite of the bunch.
The cover art was done by Ed Repka, famous for his artwork for bands such as Death, Megadeth, Evildead, Vio-lence, and many more. The CD was originally released in 2005 on Nuclear War Now! Productions and was later picked up and released by Relapse Records. The last song, "Hell on Earth" includes a lead guitar solo by Bobby Steele (ex-Misfits).
My copy is autographed by Joel Grind.
Toxic Holocaust - An Overdose of Death... (Relapse) 2008
1. Wild Dogs (2:18)
2. Nuke the Cross (2:48)
3. Endless Armageddon (3:15)
4. Future Shock (2:33)
5. War Game (:59)
6. In the Name of Science (3:24)
7. March from Hell (2:53)
8. Gravelord (2:17)
9. War is Hell (3:01)
10. The Lord of the Wasteland (2:48)
11. Feedback, Blood, and Distortion (3:27)
12. Death from Above (2:00)
13. City of a Million Graves (4:51)
Back in the early 80's most of the Bay Area bands that are now referred to as thrash metal, were more commonly referred to as speed metal bands. Even bands like Exciter from Canada and Raven from England weren't called thrash. It was speed metal. Thrash metal, at the time, was relegated to those bands who sound was more punk-infused and crossed with heavy metal, or hardcore punk. Sure, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer and Exodus all had their punk influences, but they leaned closer to fast NWOBHM, than hardcore punk. Over the years the term 'thrash' switched to those bands, while the more punk-infused band became known as "crossover". These are bands like D.R.I., Corrosion of Conformity, Excel, Uncle Slam and Suicidal Tendencies. New wave of thrash metal band Toxic Holocaust seem to fit neatly into this category, along with Municipal Waste.
"An Overdose of Death..." is the third full-length album from Toxic Holocaust and continues where the band left off with "Hell on Earth". Joel Grind, founder and main songwriter of Toxic Holocaust, continues to crank out his energetic, testosterone infused brand of thrash metal. Joel is most certainly stuck in the 1980's fitting alongside the aforementioned bands. Some may find that to be a fault in the band. Others, like myself, just enjoy the music for what it is. Who made up a rule that band's had to reinvent the wheel to make good music? Grind's crunchy riffs are matched by his raspy vocal delivery and tongue-in-cheek lyrics, making for a downright infectious thrash metal mix. There are some hints of blackened thrash metal and perhaps a touch of death metal, but for the most part, "An Overdose of Death" is just thrash, thrash and more thrash. "An Overdose Of Death..." may be fairly typical thrash, but it's well played, catchy and highly enjoyable. Not much else to say.
Also see "Speed and Spikes Vol. 1".
