CD Review: Toxic Holocaust –
From the Ashes of Nuclear Destruction
Relapse Records
All Access Review: B-
 |
| Toxic Holocaust - From the Ashes of Nuclear Destruction 2013 |
Joel Grind is from the wrong side of thrash metal’s tracks.
Obsessed with death, satanic imagery and the ever-present specter of nuclear
annihilation, Portland, Oregon’s Grind, a feral wild child who doesn’t even look
old enough to drink, and whatever black thrash/punk sewer rats he’s able to
find to play alongside him in Toxic Holocaust have wallowed in the filth and
grime of the metal underground like demonic pigs in mud since 1999, content to
bash away at insanely fast, primitive hardcore that’s best enjoyed while
huffing ammonia in a janitor’s closet or shooting rats at the local dump.
And there’s no use in trying to civilize Grind, who seems to
like residing in places that even those bound for hell would avoid, as the new
22-track Toxic Holocaust anthology From
the Ashes of Nuclear Destruction indicates. Rummaging through a land fill
of caked-in-dirt demos, garbage-strewn compilations and vinyl-only splits with
the likes of Municipal Waste and other scum-of-the-earth types, From the Ashes of Nuclear Destruction is
anything but clean and holy. It is vile stuff, indeed, and yet, however vulgar
and utterly silly it all is, the trashy D-beats, cloudy production and
sulfuric, blackened riffage of Toxic Holocaust are also irresistibly
entertaining.
The product of too many hours spent under the influence of
‘80s metal hellions Venom, Bathory and Exodus, as well as punk violators Black
Flag and Gang Green, Toxic Holocaust let it rip on raw, hellish speed-metal rides
like “Created to Kill,” “Send Them to Hell,” “Never Stop the Massacre,” “Army
of One,” and the fuzzed-out rampages of “Reaper’s Grave” and “Death Brings
Death” – Grind’s vocals at times almost indiscernible, but always evil. Showing
no love for Christianity, Grind and his minions pound the gnarly “Nuke the
Cross” into the ground and discharge the high-velocity “666” without pity.
“Bitch” and “Agony of the Damned” are more dynamic and heavy, showcasing Toxic
Holocaust’s relentless drive and ability to downshift tempos in the blink of an
eye.
In one sitting, it’s almost impossible to take it all in.
Manuel Noriega would have given up and been grateful to face his fate after
about five minutes of this. Still, although you wouldn’t want your mother to
know you’re listening to this and even liking it a little, Toxic Holocaust is
sort of fun, like a bad horror movie. It gets monotonous after a while and some diversity would be a welcome addition. A steady diet of From the Ashes of Nuclear Destruction might drive one mad, but in
small doses, it’s a guilty, even dangerous, pleasure, even if it does sound
occasionally like someone is suffocating it with a pillow.
– Peter Lindblad
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