TOXIC HOLOCAUST

Relapse struck gold with the signing of TOXIC HOLOCAUST. Other labels have got to be kicking themselves for missing the chance to do so. Joel Grind is a one-man wrecking crew, as the masses found out with the release of 2008's "An Overdose of Death". You can talk about the new breed of old-school thrashers all you want, but Grind has truly worn the early years' blend of punk attitude (DISCHARGE anyone?) and unbridled, speed killing thrash on his denim sleeve. With the re-releases of 2005's "Hell on Earth" and 2003's "Evil Never Dies" (the album we discuss here),folks that inhaled the poisonous fumes of "An Overdose of Death" will fully appreciate the asphyxiating qualities of the even rawer/dirtier older material, although those creeping around the underground have already had their fill of it.

If you're interested in seeking out an album like "Evil Never Dies" because you're curious as to how Grind has progressed over the years, you'll find that he hasn't. And that's not a bad thing by any means. What he did with "An Overdose of Death" by keeping it short and simple, mining territory previously held by the German and American masters, he was already doing on both "Evil Never Dies" and "Hell on Earth". In fact, a song like "War is Hell", which appeared on "An Overdose of Death", was taken from "Evil Never Dies" and the two versions are essentially the same. It's all about the riffs on all of his albums and those riffs burn hot and cut with all the surgical precision of a chainsaw. Great riffs never get old and Grind has made a career out of writing them. Though a song such as "Summon the Beast" rides a medium tempo and stretches a bit longer, "Evil Never Dies" is basically a collection of quick strikes that induce immediate head banging, as a blackened nugget like "Warfare" demonstrates.

Grab one, grab two, grab as many releases from TOXIC HOLOCAUST as you'd like and you will come away with a great deal of satisfaction. It's a simple formula that works and unless you want something that hasn't been done before in the field of thrash metal, "Evil Never Dies" is just the fix you need.