Toxic Holocaust - Chemistry Of Consciousness review
| Band: | Toxic Holocaust |
| Album: | Chemistry Of Consciousness |
| Style: | Blackened thrash metal, Crossover thrash metal |
| Release date: | October 29, 2013 |
| A review by: | wormdrink414 |
01. Awaken The Serpent
02. Silence
03. Rat Eater
04. Salvation Is Waiting
05. Out Of The Fire
06. Acid Fuzz
07. Deny The Truth
08. Mkultra
09. I Serve...
10. International Conspiracy
11. Chemistry Of Consciousness
12. Wargasm [L7 cover] [bonus]
Toxic Holocaust has a formula that they stick to with each of their releases. It's a simple and familiar one for thrash, really; they play as viciously as possible to a) melt your face, b) get you to willingly snap your neck, and then c) shit metal fury down your throat. And you'll take it like a man, what with you being a pussy bitch and all. That and because they do it so brilliantly well.
That's not to say that their sound hasn't changed, though. It has considerably?put on Evil Never Dies from 2003, then toss on Conjure & Command from 2011 and you'll get the idea?but they never break away from their furious and fire-spitting, molten core.
Joel Grind, the dude who was the sole member of the band for years, has ostensibly made it his life's work to strip thrash of any and all its lacy frills and ornaments, a goal he's accomplished with nearly all his releases and projects. Basically, if the current thrash-by-younger-people resurgence has a face, no one should be surprised when we learn it's his. Frayed bleached locks and all.
Conjure & Command, their previous album, is darker and more savage than their earlier discs and it's more tightly executed. All good things. They've always had a knack for no-bullshit riffage, but they especially did on that album (partly due to their having a new line-up consisting of more than just Grind)--Chemistry of Consciousness marks a further move in that direction. They took their already barbaric, stripped-down sound and made it more barbaric. And more barbaric is almost always good when making metal.
Added on top is the added flavor of occasional hum-along riffs, something their previous discs didn't have many of. They all had catchy songs in their own ways, but never quite like what we get on this. And I'm talking about the best kind of catchiness, the the type that isn't "oh hi marks, chant along with me and the spirit of Satan and Odin now guys" catchy, but far more subtle and effective than that. Riffs will sneak up on you, injecting your memory lobes with their tunes. Throw on "Acid Fuzz" and I'll bet good, make-believe digital currency it'll be the soundtrack for the remainder of your day.
Yadda, yadda: The album is a beast. A cliché, sure, but it's suiting and it's enough said. Don't miss out on it.
 | Written on 23.10.2013 by Wormdrink's real name is George and he's an American. |
Comments
Comments: 25
Visited by: 371 users
| Dylan Posts: 93 |
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6120  |
Written by Dylan on 23.10.2013 at 08:52 Even though thrash is one of those metal genres that don't have too much room for expansion and variety, it doesn't mean that there can't be great new thrash releases, originality notwithstanding.
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| Dylan Posts: 93 |
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| Mattybu Posts: 2589  |
Written by Daniell on 23.10.2013 at 09:11 False, and tbh even the done-before type thrash albums are waaaaaaaay better than the done-before albums of any other genre.
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| Cynic Metalhead Ambrish Saxena Posts: 7661  |
Good album but certainly not deserved to be in 9 cadre tbh. It's packed with some power-punches moments where you could say "okay, they delivered 10 from my side" but then some songs swung to repetitive mode, screeching, screeching back to back of only songs you have just heard. For any listener, I strongly think 7 or 8 would be idle shelf to slid this record in.
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| LeKiwi High Fist Prog Posts: 4134  |
Written by Mattybu on 23.10.2013 at 23:09 An opinion 
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| Mattybu Posts: 2589 |
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989  |
Written by Daniell on 23.10.2013 at 09:11 Which is exactly why my preferences are confined mostly to black and doom, which do I did enjoy Conjure And Command though, and I'm getting a totally retro vibe from this new artwork... very Ed Repka-ish.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Lit. Account deleted |
Lit.
Account deleted Written by Auntie Sahar on 26.10.2013 at 06:35 Doom? Expansion and variety?  Black I can believe with that atmospheric ambient shoegaze stuff that's been flying around, but I think doom is pretty limited as a genre.
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6120 |
Written by [user id=101272] on 26.10.2013 at 07:13 4 words for you: listen to more doom.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Written by [user id=101272] on 26.10.2013 at 07:13 doom is an extremely varied genre, especially when you compare it to thrash. Mar De Grises, Pentagram, Candlemass, My Dying Bride, Saturnus, Dolorian, Nortt, Skepticism, Evoken, Necro Schizma, Wormphlegm to name just a few which sound extremely different to each other and cover everything from classic traditional doom which is very close to classic heavy metal to extreme doom which is way closer to black or pure death metal and also of course doom which has loads of progressive elements in it.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 26.10.2013 at 13:43 And then the stoner stuff can get really psychedelic on occasion as well, which provides a ton of room for improv and other experimentation.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| Auntie Sahar Drone Empress Posts: 5989 |
Written by [user id=101272] on 26.10.2013 at 18:38 It was just his way of saying "explore the style more and you'll see how much variety it has." I don't think there was any ill will meant.
---- I am the Magician and the Exorcist. I am the axle of the wheel, and the cube in the circle. “Come unto me” is a foolish word: for it is I that go. ~ II. VII
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| theembryo Posts: 161  |
Thanks to wormdrink414 for the review, and to the MS community for further comments. To use a line from another site, "I'mma go eat a fuckin rat now!"
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| DJ Cosimoto Posts: 39  |
Do I really have the patience or the time to explore all these doom bands.... i dont think so.... I do not know why pple get so exited about doom... and yes i have listened to evoken and what not... and Thomas from Saturnus is a dear friend of mine... but man, i can not help but make a lil fun of super serious doom bands... they are lol"
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6120 |
Written by [user id=101272] on 26.10.2013 at 18:38 4 words for you: how was I rude?
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| Daggon Underpaid M.D. Posts: 1689  |
Once again, Joel Grind delivers a balls-to-the-wall album, fast, punkish, aggressive and thrasy as fuck, no time for ballads and shit. Don't know why, but I always find Toxic Holocaust quite enjoyable. So far I find 2013 as a good year for thrash: Toxic Holocaust, Power Trip, Dream Death, damn, even Death Angel released a decent album.
---- "Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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| Lustful Maid Posts: 49 |
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| wormdrink414 Elite Posts: 1295  |
Written by Lustful Maid on 02.11.2013 at 21:24 Not every album that gets a 9 will be as good as Illud Divinum Inanus is all, you know that. That album is such a robust 9, all other 9's will seem weaker from here on. Just the nature of the rating system on this site I guess 
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| teemumikael Posts: 1  |
Written by Lustful Maid on 02.11.2013 at 21:24 Well, I don't know. I tend to rate good albums good & bad albums bad... or worse. hihi.
---- - Nature is my only master, I will bow to no one -
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| Daggon Underpaid M.D. Posts: 1689 |
Written by Lustful Maid on 02.11.2013 at 21:24 I know, it maybe deserves something between 9.1 and 9.2
---- "Les vers savent qu'ils n'ont pas d'ailes, c'est pour cela qu'ils se cachent sous terre"
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| onedh Posts: 11 |
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