HOLOCAUST – Predator review

 HOLOCAUST – Predator

Sleaszy Rider Records

https://www.facebook.com/Holometal

Companies and labels count as success the number of sales. In general they consider everything that they produce as a product to be consumed. Thanks god in heavy metal music and in other forms of true art success is proven by its endurance in time and mainly by how influential it can be. HOLOCAUST in commercial terms might not be a successful band, but if you consider that they have influenced such bands like METALLICA and GAMMA RAY, then you can’t deny they are amongst the bands that have left their own mark in the heavy metal sound.

THE COVER: Having such a violent title like “Predator” in your eighth studio album you need a cover that can support this title and I think that HOLOCAUST have nailed it with the painting that is on the cover. The cover depicts two human skulls upon a backbone that looks like it belongs to an alien or prehistoric animal. You have the sense that you are into the cave or the dwelling of a predator.  Also I like the natural way that the cover looks; it is more like a painting and has nothing to do with the modern computerized creations.

MUSICAL STYLE: Most of the times bands like HOLOCAUST that have a long history in heavy metal try to modernize their sound and eventually offer to the listener something that has nothing to do with their original sound. Of course we are into a new millennium and technology has moved forward and it is extremely hard not to be influenced by the new tendencies of the sound. The tricky part of that though is if you can manage to embody these new elements into your sound without losing your identity. HOLOCAUST really managed to do that here. The album might have a modern production and a few modern elements, but the core of it is pure traditional heavy metal. The structure of the songs and the melodies bring to my mind the early days of the group as well as the early days of BLACK SABBATH, DIAMOND HEAD and JUDAS PRIEST. They might have simple structures, but they enrich them with nice leads and solos in the good old traditional heavy metal way. It is also impressive how the album sounds at the same moment modern and yet old school.

CONCLUSION: Most of the bands that have released so many albums as HOLOCAUST reach a point that either repeat themselves or change their sound totally and disappoint their fans. HOLOCAUST, on the other hand seems to have found the way to reinvent and regenerate themselves without losing their musical identity. I think that this is an album that will satisfy their fans and of course bring some new ones to them.

Nick “Verkaim” Parastatidis