Do you love to rock… I mean really love to rock?

Then say no more. Now available for the first time on CD, the first two glorious releases from the band previously made famous by the interpretive talents of others having gone on to major metal stardom… Holocaust-now some twenty years after first appearing at the dawn of the NWOBHM, the terror begins again!

A midnight rousing of "The Nightcomers," their first studio record features all the low down and dirty rock anthems you've grown to love and distrust-"Do you love to rock n' roll?"

How 'bout smokin' some valves!

What many may come to remember is that what once was a relatively obscure track known as "The Small Hours" first covered by the then mighty Metallica when they first flung open the "garage" door appeared originally on Holocaust's Live record.

Something I didn't know at the time, one of my favorite tracks from Six Feet Under's "Warpath" release a while back, "Death or Glory…" wasn't even theirs-that's right, Holocaust!

And you'll know it right from the opening riffs that still sound like they could rip your head off in a matter of seconds!

"The Nightcomers" is pure metal right from the ashes of 1981 and for all the remastering and tinkering that the release might've come under for today-or has it-exemplifies all the raw talent and edginess that first popularized the metal movement.

Now judging by the rather sporadic discography over the years, Holocaust either broke up several times, or were just bright enough to wait out the ongoing fashion fodder that sent many of their likeness reeling and never to return.

Since they're still around, having last produced "Covenant" in '97, with a new one around the corner, it makes perfect sense to dig through the cobwebs and get these original installments a thorough cleansing and proper release!

"Live-Hot Curry & Wine" not only sounds tasteless in the literal sense; the sound of this 1982 underground classic will bring you quickly to your knees!

Like many from their time, Holocaust was like an extension of what early Hard-Core/Punk grew into as the burgeoning metal scene was about to get its feet wet-those that stuck true to the nature of heavy rock and roll still possessed the brashness and balls of those late seventies pioneers grew into the likes of Savage, Maiden, and so on… many of the others, became Public Image Limited…

The "Live" record was an unusual occurrence considering the band was all of one album old, and even more unusual, the sound quality for what had to have taken place within a structure no bigger than a walk-in closet, will floor ya!

Highlighted tracks in order of appearance include "No Nonsense," for openers, "Smokin' Valves," "The Small Hours," as we've already covered, and "Heavy Metal Mania," which comes across as a rowdy, drunken sing along with surprisingly upfront lead vocals and protruding double-bass kick!

This one would later turn up on a recent Gamma Ray disc!

Just for the nostalgia trip alone, these are worth getting a hold of Holocaust's reputation may always precede them as one of those who provided value driven content for the appreciation and vile misappropriation of other bands… but with the emergence of a new breed of metal performers and the renewed interest in the old standards, these first two releases from Holocaust had to happen.

"The Nightcomers," and "Live-Hot Curry & Wine," how it all began… wholesale destruction at its absolute finest!

Released by Edgy Records

Review By Vinnie Apicella

The Courage to Be

Holocaust

Whoa, what an opening track!

Not exactly what I first expected… it's kind of epic sounding and almost folk-like in a Gary Moorish tradition…

Imagine, "The Nightcomers" riding through the night… a gust of wind whips by and a call to arms is directed at all who remain in this sleepy town…

Okay, maybe we're getting overdramatic here but what a song-"The Collective"-a unity that cannot be broken!

Not in a raise your hands to rock kind of way however.

"The Courage to Be" basically follows along this sense of longing… to be free and live as one-united in holy alliance and to achieve this inner peace with oneself…

"When Penelope Dreams" parts I & II tells a brief but similar story in the third person. Part I takes place amidst a tranquil acoustic background that's basically an introduction-"Hey Sunday Girl…" Then Part II digs a little deeper and becomes mildly grittier by the time Miss Penelope reaches that "night train" where we follow the rest of her journey… to somewhere.

And then there's "From the Mine Shaft to the Bike Shed…" and that's the whole song-"Mineshaft… Bike Shed!"

Okay… oddly enough it's only by the time song seven, "Fundamentalist" rolls around, crashing and banging such as it does, do I really hear that this is Holocaust!

And this has a true to live in studio vibe surrounding it that makes it extra rough around the edges… the way it should be-we're not dealing with a pop band here after all!

"The Courage to Be" follows up on the reissues of their first two records earlier in the year-"The Nightcomers" & "Live"-and features their first new material since '97s "Covenant."

So that probably explains why I'm hearing such a difference then… it's like leap-frogging from 1983 to now and I'm expecting "The Small Hours" or something… but as we head toward the finish line-the whole album's really pretty good-but this is where they start to get into it and wail away-"Spanner Omlette," "Home from Home," and the capper, "The Age of Reason," brings things to a rousing conclusion; their riffs firmly established five songs ago!

"The Courage to Be…" mistakably unmistakable in two parts I would say, but an all around solid release from a veteran band that still knows how to maximize the true spirit of the metal tradition without stumbling blindly through the darkness of the past!

Released by Neat Metal

Review by Vinnie Apicella [va85@columbia.edu]