Toxic Holocaust
Chemistry of Consciousness (2013)
Relapse Records
The first sentence in Toxic Holocaust’s biography states they were formed by Joel Grind in 1999 to pay homage to the raw days of metal and punk, and that’s precisely what this band and this release does.
Right from the get go, Chemistry of Consciousness‘s first track aptly titled ‘Awaken The Serpent’ delivers just under one and a half minutes of fast paced snake venomed speed and intensity screaming that Joel and company are in no way running out of fresh ideas or showing any signs of deviating from the band’s tried and tested metallic style. Musically at a glance Toxic Holocaust have not strayed far from their previous releases, the drums still drive with a constant unrelenting Motorhead-esque style which can become repetitive if not well structured and is very common in a lot of the punk and crust cross-over music that the band say they musically draw from. Yet this same repetitiveness creates a solid foundation for front-man and guitarist Joel Grind to weave his magic. The guitar tone is rawer than sandpaper for toilet paper, the riffs are meatier than a butcher’s dog, Joel’s vocals have all the growl and menace of one of hell’s hounds and yet keep enough dryness and clarity to keep the listener from resorting to the lyric sheet.
As we fly full pelt through tracks like ‘Salvation is Waiting’ and ‘Mkultra’ it becomes blindingly obvious this release will not let up, it’s eleven tracks of foot-to-the-floor, flat out speeding metal delivered in a classic simplistic punk style.
If you’re already a Toxic Holocaust fan I can confidently say this release will in no way disappoint and if you haven’t yet had the assaulting aural pleasure then I recommend Chemistry of Consciousness as the perfect gateway to a new thrashing musical addiction.
