Thursday, June 27, 2013

Toxic Holocaust: From the Ashes of Nuclear Destruction (2013)

Compiled

Review by Metallattorney. He is the law.

Hmmm. I am not quite sure why I am reviewing this. I did not realize it at first until listening to it for the first time that this is a compilation rather than a full-length release. I realized it finally when I kept thinking to myself "I know I have heard this song before". I guess it helps to pay attention occasionally.

Anyway, I am a big fan of Toxic Holocaust so even though this is a compilation, I enjoyed listening to it. This is a collection of tracks off of EPs and splits that the band has done over the years. Toxic Holocaust has a lot of music out there and this puts together some of the rarer tracks for easier consumption. That is what a good compilation does after all.


Toxic Holocaust is never going to break down any barriers to new musical ideas not previously heard. Joel Grind is perfectly content to play music bearing sonic similarity to the early days of blackened thrash, paying homage to groups like Sodom, Hellhammer, Venom, and Bathory in their earliest incarnations. Back when playing ability took a backseat to playing raw and vile metal infused with punk. That too is what Toxic Holocaust does.

This is raw thrash metal without a care in the world. The band, mostly Joel Grind, is not the most musically-talented group in the world but it always sounds like they have an absolute blast ripping through short, sharp shards of metal. This is not for people who want their music to really say something. It just rocks, plain and simple.

THE VERDICT:
I am not going to pretend that everyone should check this out. This is a compilation and is really just there for the completists and huge Toxic Holocaust fans. I am a huge fan though and I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. For anyone else, I would give it 2 out of 5 stars.



Relapse doesn't have an embeddable version of this on their Bandcamp, and they've asked that I use their Bandcamp for embeds . . . so I've just picked something else from Toxic Holocaust. --FMA

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