Reborn Dogs

After two pretty mediocre releases of Holy Moses, I was no longer interested in the further offerings of the band. The last thing I noticed was that Sabina left the group after the publication of "Reborn Dogs" in order to wander through the temple of the absurd. The once proud ship of Holy Moses was sinking and no salvation was in sight. Anyway, roughly 20 years after the release of the original album, I bought "Reborn Dogs" and I must confess that it was an error to ignore the album for two decades.

Right from the beginning, the massive opener kicks asses. The balance between vehemence (too much) and the quality of the riffs (too little) does not fully convince, but this is no big problem at the end of the day. While relying on a dense and brutal production, the song provides evidence that Sabina and her metallic bodyguards are not in danger of losing their track. The band plays with hardcore elements, but the general direction has still written furious thrash metal all over it. The first highlight of the album is not long in coming. After two rumbling attacks that scream "full force ahead", the bitter riffs of "Welcome to the Real World" shape a fantastic, mid-harsh thrasher. Its lyrics leave room for interpretation; maybe this is sort of a brief autobiographical snapshot. However, there is not much time to think about their lyrical intention, because the title track returns to the more merciless approach of the two openers. It possesses these choppy background vocals that are a typical feature of the album and they lend it this certain punk / hardcore flair. To call the next song "F**k You" also speaks volumes in this context.

Despite a slight upward trend, Holy Moses are not able to rectify the errors of the previous outputs. Sabina is still totally focused on brutality, but there are more challenges a thrash metal singer has to face. It comes therefore as no surprise that her performance lacks of variability and charisma. Furthermore, the riffs fail to impress. I am no fan of D.R.I. and the cover version of "Five Year Plan" is actually pretty useless, but the guitar work at the beginning and the end of the song indicates impressively that it is no rocket science to create a riff which enters the deepest chambers of the brain in a matter of seconds. Obviously, Holy Moses cannot be blamed for a lack of enthusiasm, yet their song material leaves room for optimization. The over-emphasis of sheer franticness appears as an act of self-limitation. It is certainly no coincidence that the best pieces of this album ("Welcome to the Real World" and the closer "Dancing with the Dead") reveal a less rabid song formula. Yet perhaps I am just an immature wimp who is not able to recognize the fanatic brilliance of their totally aggressive outbursts.

Leaving aside the bonus live tracks, Holy Moses had penned a solid full-length that was barely enough to keep body and soul together. The album's name paid tribute to their groundbreaking masterpiece from 1987, but it goes without saying that it needs more than a similar title to form a new milestone. With regard to the class of their first three outcomes, it was obvious that the crisis of the formation lingered on.

I'd be lying if I said that the title of Holy Moses' sixth full-length album, Reborn Dogs, was not a cause for excitement. Obviously, this is because I thought the band would be returning to the eminent propulsion and savagery that fueled their 1987 masterpiece, Finished With the Dogs. To an extent, that is precisely the idea that the German band seem to be toying with. This is some fairly aggressive thrash metal, with Sabina Classen's continued brutality up front, but the issue I took with Reborn Dogs is that for all the authenticity and good intentions, the material written here just falls short of my expectations. It's not as dark and gloomy as the previous album Terminal Terror, and a step down in many ways.

Really, it comes down to the riffs, which on Reborn Dogs consist of a slew of entirely generic fare that might have been more effective in the middle of the preceding decade. They're pissed off enough, especially with Classen performing in her death/thrash tone, but until you get pretty deep in the track list, they all spin into one ear and spurt right out the other. The thick bass and the punchy tone are just not enough to salvage tracks like "Decapitated Mind", "Welcome to the Real World", nor even the hammering juggernaut plainly labeled "Fuck You", which is the best song on the first half of the album, despite the predictable and forgettable chorus. After a spell, the guitars begin to pick up slightly in quality, namely on the driving cover of D.R.I.'s "Five Year Plan" or the closer, "Dancing With the Dead", with its doomed intro, but I wouldn't select either if I were picking through the band's career heights.

It's a shame, because everything else here is in place for the band to have another hit on their hands, except the inspiring music. I'll give Holy Moses some credit: while many other artists were exploring far and wide by 1992, this band was remaining straight on thrash. They had already had some minute experimentation, of course, but largely in the breadth and tone of what they were writing. Reborn Dogs, in title, might just have been a statement of the band's commitment to remaining honest to the genre that birthed them, but aside from the base level ability to get the head banging, and one of the more punishing emissions of energy the band has to this date, the bland notation accounts for it being the least interesting album since their debut.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

At the time I first heard 'Reborn Dogs', actually one of the first Holy Moses albums I have ever heard, I had no idea what had happened to the band back in the period that was followed by the release of the album, but it had surely pissed them off good! 'Reborn Dogs' is an explosion of anger, aggression and a whole load of energy. The album is probably closest to Death Metal that Holy Moses has done so far and that does the album incredibly well!

'Reborn Dogs' is a step in the right direction in every single way. The songs are better, there is more sincerity and energy in the songs, the playing of the musicians is tighter than ever and even though Andy and Sabina Classen had seperated around the period the album came out, their voices flow together better than on any previous album. The quality of this album is a delight to any Thrasher's ears. This album is a return to the aggression of 'Finished With The Dogs', which makes the title of the album a really fitting one.

Just like on 'Finished With The Dogs', there is very little subtlety in the beginning of the album. Drummer Sven Herwig counts to four on his hi-hats and all hell breaks loose right away. This is some nice anger with pumping rhythms to bang your head to and it's called 'Clash My Soul'. The song shows that Holy Moses has gone more extreme and is more aggressive than on any previous album. And that's a pattern. Every song on the album is a proof of the fact that anger can be an emotion that can lead to beautiful results too.

First standout track on this album of highlights is the title track. 'Reborn Dogs' is a speeding frenzy of killer riffs, killer drumming and both Andy and Sabina spitting out all of their aggression throughout the song. The entire thing is made interesting by changes in time feel and some really cool fills by Sven Herwig.

But the supreme track on this album is the one that follows directly on the title track. The song, in all subtlety, is entitled 'Fuck You' and the title sums up what the song is about quite precisely. The structure is pretty nice, there's a slower, grinding intro that sets the tension very well only to dissolve into a chaos with insane riffing and insane drum parts shortly after. The lyrics leave no mystery either, as well as the way it's sung, Sabina was angry! "You stupid dick I'm gonna kick your bloody ass". Doesn't exactly sound like a cute little love song, does it?

Okay, so the entire album is one big highlight. 'Welcome To The Real World' shows the nice sinergy between Andy's and Sabina's vocals, 'Deadicate' is another speedy Thrasher, 'Five Year Plan', originally done by DRI and in this form sung by Andy Classen, is finally a decent cover and the slow and doomy 'Dancing With The Dead' closes the album in Sabbath-style, beit a bit Thrashier and with Sabina and Andy vocals sounding better than Ozzy ever did.

Criticism is hard on an album that is as dear to me as this one. Especially because I haven't got any. This album is Holy Moses in optima forma and the title should at least make you curious if you already have 'Finished With The Dogs'. It's a nice one when you're pissed off. So if you are, or if you just like stuff that sounds that way, make sure you add it to your collection!