Holocross

I totally bought this album as a blind purchase back in 1988 when I was 16 years old I'll never forget it. I saw this record and it looked pretty cool and I had recognized the record label. They were l New Renaissance records and I had a couple of albums of bands before that on that label like Executioner and Whermacht which were good thrash metal. So I saw this and bought it for $3 and brought it home and what a pleasant surprise because this is really well produced and sounds really great even to this day 32 years later.

I really never understood why this album wasn't huge or wasn't well recognized in the thrash metal community because it's awesome. And it's up there with all the bigger bands and yet I'm willing to bet you there's a lot of people that never even heard this record at all. That's the shame of it all when I think about a band like this who could have been way more popular in the thrash scene and could have gotten a lot of attention when they should have gotten it that really bugs me even 30 plus years after this album came out. I can't believe how good the production is on this album because it still sounds great. Especially the drums which sound the best on this lp. Since this was an obscure record label not like a big record label that's got huge distribution they did an amazing job with putting up the money to let this band go to a good studio and get a great sounding lp out of it.

Ray Molinari is a great drummer this guy's fantastic he's really doing some awesome stuff on these songs and he should be really praised because he sounds amazing and he really makes these songs great. And it's a real shame that he's not recognized as a great drummer because a lot of people don't know this band and they've probably never heard this album like I said before. His playing is fantastic he's up there with David Lombardo in my book he's got some really great fills and double bass stuff that kicks ass. The vocals are great too by their vocalist his name is Char R.G, let's face it, that's a funny name. But he's got a great voice he sounds a lot like Chuck Billy, Rob Halfold and Paul Baloff from Exodus all mixed together and he also sounds like Biff Bayford from Saxon as well in some songs. He's got an aggressive voice that's really good for the faster thrashier moments and when he hits some great screams its powerful he's got a good range on him.

I really like all the songs on the record they all have great stuff in them and really catchy riffs that stick in your head for a while. 'Bombardment' is a great song it starts off slow and kind of doomy and then it kicks it to a really great double bass pounding thrash riff that's really cool. 'Warpath' has got some great vocals on it with some of the higher screams like I said that really have a heavy Judas Priest influence but really great otherwise. 'Manslaughter' is a great song because it sounds so angry and violent especially at the end where they keep repeating 'manslaughter' a bunch of times and you can hear his voice getting angrier and angrier and it's really great. I think 'Seizure' is great too it has a mellow beginning with a clean guitar that suddenly kicks in with the distortion that hits you hard. The ending is really chaotic and you hear some glass breaking that's really loud it's crazy too. Other standout tracks are 'Wolf Pak' and 'Murdercycle' and the last song 'Battle Stations' finishes the lp off nicely. No filler tracks on this lp its loaded fir 33 minutes from start to finish.

And for whatever stupid reason this album's never been released on CD and it's been ridiculously overdue for over 30 years. I don't know who the hell has the rights to this album but it's absolutely asinine that this remains without a proper release on CD or remastered LP or whatever. I still don't get it it's another mystery to me that makes no fucking sense at all. I've gotten some of the New Renaissance records reissues in the past 10 or 15 years that they've had put out. They have managed to rerelease a lot of their old catalog of bands from the 80s but this album remains the one that hasn't been done properly and I keep asking why. If any of the band members are reading this I don't know if you have control over the rights to this album but please have somebody re-release this and remaster it to put this out so people can hear it because they're missing out on a great piece of thrash history from the 80s no doubt.


There's got to be somebody out there who has the rights to this that should release it on CD because it's totally ridiculous. I don't know if it's bootlegged in another country I have no idea but all I know is this album needs to be re-released. I can't stress that enough and it sounds to me like whoever owns the rights doesn't give a fuck about rereleasing it when they should have done it years ago. I'm sure with a proper remastering job it could enhance the production and it would be really great to see it available to the public and to all of us guys that were around from that time to finally have a remastered copy. I don't know whatever happened to the band members because I have gone on the New Renaissance records website years ago and have messaged them as to why this album hadn't been reissued. And they emailed me back and have said they have been trying to contact the band members for many years and have had no luck. What the fuck??? Where are these guys what are they doing holding this album back? Such bullshit I cant even process and i don't think a lot of people can. There's no reasonable explanation for why this album is not reissued. Sure you can go on ebay and get a copy of the lp maybe you'll get lucky and find one that's not 100 dollars or more but that's all you can do.

Like I said in the caption this is a great album that's disappeared Into obscurity that shouldn't have been forgotten about but I think it has unfortunately by most metal fans young and old. You might find some people who have heard it but not a lot. Such a really great thrash lp that needs to be heard and recognized by all means.

UPDATE AS OF MARCH 14TH 2024: Heaven and Hell records have finally reissued this amazing album on cd and its about fucking time!!!!! I just picked my copy up today and the remastered version is really great and it enhances the original recording alot better. Thank you so much Heaven and Hell records for finally doing this reissue that I never thought was going to happen. It's been over 35 years for a proper CD release and it's finally here. And to note they also reissued their second album Hypercaust on cd as well. And for those of you who don't know their original name was Iron Cross and their debut album Warhead was reissued too. It features the three guys from Holocross and they decided to change their name due to some other bands who had the same name.

Don't sleep on these reissues grab all 3 of them while you can ....you'll be getting some great thrash from the 80s that was lost in obscurity for nearly 4 decades. I only hope that someday we'll see a reunion show that would be absolutely crazy to see this band live I really hope it'll come to be.

I like to think that every once in a while I can have a measure of pride in my home state, even though their representation in the thrash metal world has been somewhat lacking when compared with the exceptional acts to hail from California, New York, Texas, and the New England area. Something about the Wild West and the massive population density of the north eastern part of the country both seem to exude a tendency towards violence, though they all tended to be just a tad shy of the outright vindictive evil that would swarm out of Germany. But a rag tag bunch from the steel city of Pittsburg by the name of Holocross managed to give all of them a run for their money back in 1988.

Picture the sheer intensity and speed crazed mayhem that typified Wehrmacht’s “Shark Attack” and marry it to the orthodoxy of the mid 80s Bay Area sound (somewhere along the lines of Testament meets Slayer), and that’s the general mood of “Holocross”. This album is more than a mere exercise in violent thrashing; it’s an explosion of fury comparable to a world war of riffs and shouts. The drum work, in particular, is scarcely ever satisfied in keeping the beat and simply has to either blast away with both barrels or load up on the fills almost to the point of sheer gratuity. In similar fashion, the vocal work veers back and forth between a low key Chuck Billy growl and frequent interludes into Tom Araya shriek territory, with maybe a slight helping of Udo influences at times as well.

Granted, by 1988 this approach to thrash metal was not unheard of, but the excessive speed and aggression factor on here is more in line with that more associated with “Beneath The Remains” and “Pleasure To Kill” than the party oriented sound that was starting to crop up amongst the New York crew. It’s largely a one dimensional affair where the guitars blur and crunch away with no time for quiet interludes and next to no time for breakdowns. That’s basically of the charm of this sort of an album, there may be an occasional intro that’s more mid-tempo such as heard on “Warpath” and a lone clean guitar intro found on “Seizure”, but the vast majority of what is heard on here just unloads in the most intense manner possible and skips all the drawn out additives. Much of what is on here either clocks in below or just barely above 3 minutes in length, and it’s likely because the sort of head-banging required for these songs would see heads rolling on the floor if they went much longer.

This isn’t an album that immediately lends itself to classic status, primarily because it’s so damned intense that it simply leaves a vague impression, right on the listener’s skull. People tend to remember albums like “South Of Heaven” and “Coma Of Souls” better because they offer a variety of different ways to ruin the spinal column, whereas this is just a straight shot of pure adrenaline that tends to fade away once the music stops. The crazy leads, the crushing riffs, the barely intelligible screams, and the drum showboating all accomplish what they need to, a one-dimensional fit of rage that brings to thrash metal what early Bolt Thrower would bring to death metal. It’s definitely far removed from the greatest thrash album ever made, but definitely worth the time for anyone who likes it fast and vicious.

Thought I'd give this one a review since no one else has and it deserves one. This album is one aggressive piece of metal. Hailing from the Pittsburgh, tri-state area, Holocross were most well known for their controversial weapons-based stage shows and go-for-the-throat approach. These guys make Jake the Lumberjack look like a wimp. The album has a raw feel. Think a mixture of Razor and Onslaught, with some Vio-lence thrown in for good measure, and you know these guys kick some ass. (and with a name like Holocross, would you expect any less?) I'll do a song-by-song review:

Wolf Pak: Starts things off with a bang, not bad, but nothing new here, it's only 2 minutes long

Bombardment: Begins with some evil sounding chants and slow drum beat, pumps up into a mid pace beat, then goes into an all out thrasher for the rest of the song.

Warpath: Headbangable drum pounding intro leads to a heavy as hell mid pace beat. Nice screams too throughout, courtesy of Char R.G. which we will hear quite a bit more of later. This song basically pounds from beginning to end.

B. Hive: Excellent but short melodic intro, leads to excellent thrash riff that consists of most of the song. This is another short song being only 2 minutes, but it's one of the best. Ends with a CREEPY guitar harmony that sounds like, you guessed it, a swarm of bees!

Seizure: Doomy sounding intro leads to another excellent riff, which leads to some nice thrashing and cool chorus with Char shouting out SEIZURE!!! GOD DAMN SEIZURE!!! Goes into a slow beat, then back to more thrashing for the rest of the song.

Manslaughter: Great, great song here, probably the best. Pure energetic thrashing, with some funny power-metallish vocals that in no way sound power metal. The lyrics are about dying. There's some awesome guitar harmonies and riffs here. This song is a good reason to own this album.

Murdercycle: begins with what I guess is motorcycle engine sounds, then goes into a cool mid-pace/fast intro riff, then into another cool mid-pace/fast riff with lyrics about Hell, motorcycles, death, and smashing, this is what metal's all about! You really notice Char's unique vocal style here, it's hard and loud, with operatic vibratos. Probably the "toughest" song on this album. Makes you wanna start a bar fight.

Drill: Intro drum roll into a killer thrash riff. Char's voice is all of a sudden high pitched! This one is lyrically about soldiers being "drilled" to fight. What the lyrics lack in creativity, the guitars make up for in cool harmonies and speed. Another ass kicker.

Ptomaine: Yep, another ass kicker. Sounds like a continuation of Drill because it's just not that much of a variation in riff style. It's pretty short though.

Battle Stations: The last song, this one starts with what I suppose is a battle station alarm, goes into some thrashing, then we hear some more super high pitch vocals and a killer "BATTLE STATIONS" chorus. One of the only guitar solos on the album in this one, and it's pretty damn cool. Ends with some guitar harmony line, switching off with some drums. One of the better songs on here.

I only review albums I think deserve it, and this is one is no exception. If you like your metal violent and ultra heavy, give this one a spin, IF you can handle it.