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HOLY MOSES
Redefined Mayhem

Steamhammer (2014)
Rating: 7.5/10

All true metalheads should own at least one opus from German metallers Holy Moses. These guys have waded through metal’s rusty rivers since 1980, releasing such brilliant records as Finished With The Dogs (1987) and The New Machine Of Liechtenstein (1989).

Sadly, Holy Moses struggled to overcome the weight of mid-90s grunge, and so called it a day in 1994. Thankfully, the group returned in 2000, and the following year released the Master Of Disaster EP. Since then, we’ve been treated to three solid full-length releases, and now the band’s fourth – Redefined Mayhem, a 13-track throat-ripper which is a big improvement on 2008’s Agony Of Death.

So, it’s been six long years – with one compilation in-between – in waiting for this opus and I’m pleased to say that it’s one that goes straight for the windpipe, crushes its victim, and rasps away the flesh. Much of this long-awaited savagery is down to the vocal menace that is Sabina Classen, who still remains a potent force when it comes to vocal shredding. Although Holy Moses was formed in 1980 by Ramon Brüssler and Jochen Fünders, it’s fair to say that Classen has always been the focal point for this band’s brand of thrashing mayhem.

With Redefined Mayhem, we have another solid platter that shifts effortlessly between pure thrash Armageddon and cool steely metal melody, each division of noise complementing Classen’s schizophrenic vocal delivery – which varies with ease from guttural rasp, hideous seething and deathly bellow.

The album opens with the blistering ‘Hellhound’ which comes slamming into the ears with the juddering bass of Thomas Neitsch, who has made those strings his own since 2008. He rattles away with furious intent alongside Gerd Lücking’s frantic drums, drums that push himself against the waves of Classen’s monstrous vocals and the destructive riffage of Peter Geltat. “I… I am the hound of hell” barks Classen, Holy Moses suddenly bordering on the vicious realms of a more melodic Obituary, and implementing the classic nature of traditional metal alongside the icier thrash technique.

It’s fast and feverish as one would expect, but is it enough to separate a band of this quality from the hordes currently clogging up the revival thrash scene? Well, I think Holy Moses has what it takes to reinstate themselves as thrash metal killers rather than mere followers. Again, I refer to Classen’s devastating throat, particularly on ‘Undead Dogs’, ‘Delusion’ and ‘One Step Ahead Of Death’, but it seems that at the moment, Holy Moses occupy the same visceral void as, say, Onslaught, because although the music feels refreshing and always runs aggressively, there is just a hint of the mundane about it.

With acts like Hatriot really grabbing the thrash metal scene by the balls, I can see Holy Moses eventually reaching their fiery destination as leaders of the new field, but it will take a short while for the combo to step up to the next rung on the ladder. I feel that the real saviours of the album are the vocals and the gargantuan bass, because while the guitars rage hard and the drums shatter the silence, they appear a tad too clean – fitting in with that contemporary bias that seems to bog so many modern thrash bands down.

That’s not to say that I expect Holy Moses to revert back to the early 80s. After all, that time has been and gone, but just like then, it’s important now for bands to have the ability to distinguish themselves from the masses. Redefined Mayhem finds a band that has the ability to slog it out hard and fast, but rarely does a song really grab you by the balls with an iron fist. ‘Sacred Sorrows’ and ‘Triggered’ are both decent tracks as is every cut on this robust platter, and the nice shifts between faster segments and melody can only be admired, but without those vicious vocals, this record could be regarded as nothing more than a mildly impressive dose of modern thrash.

Even today, the masters of their trade are fellow Germans Destruction and Kreator who, in spite of their melodic injections, maintain a cutting edge. Yet, it’s not one which competes with say the 2013 Protector opus Reanimated Homunculus, which somehow had all the maddening majesty of Kreator in their prime. Holy Moses have carved out a cracking thrash metal record, but in this day and age I need something a touch more embryonic and less polished to rattle my bones. Not quite living up to its title, the 11th offering from Holy Moses should still satisfy those with a thirst for concrete thrash metal.

Neil Arnold

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