An Overdose Of Death

Toxic Holocaust have a few things that set them apart from the rest of the retro-thrash crowd. Unusually for this genre, they're a one-man project, with Joel Grind handling all vocal and instrumental duties. Well, usually anyway. Here he's joined by Zeke member Donny Paycheck behind the kit, and the drumming's certainly a step up from earlier works. The other element that sets Toxic Holocaust apart from the pack is the old-school black metal influence running throughout. Where as most retro-thrashers are prepared to sound like almost a pastiche of the big four, Toxic Holocaust go for a far nastier version of the genre that takes as much influence from Venom and Bathory as it does Slayer. There's a sizeable of the crossover punk influence used by current scene darlings Municipal Waste, too, but coupled with Joel's black metal croaks (he is a dead ringer for Darkthrone's Nocturno Culto) it feels completely different altogether. With it's defiantly old-school style logo and cover art, An Overdose Of Death would appear to be twenty years older were it not for the slick (a little too slick for the slimy thrashings in the gutter played here, admittedly) production job. It could be argued that it all gets a little samey, with every song consisting of Joel barking out his Satan and war-themed lyrics over neck-breaking riffs and frantic, punkish drumming, with the odd mid-paced chug or solo to liven things up. Luckily, the album keeps it brief, finishing before it has half a chance to get dull. It plays out in just under 40 minutes, with only four of the album's thirteen songs clocking over three minutes. Only the closer City Of A Million Graves breaks away from the verse-chorus-verse structure, throwing in a few extra sections (not that it's a new Symphony X record or anything, of course) and doing something a little more complex than we've seen before. When you're making an album as primitive and full-on as An Overdose Of Death, it lives or dies on the strength of its songs. Luckily, Mr Grind has cooked up some stormer's here. Future Shock boasts a brilliantly catchy main riff, and it's a nice change of pace, being merely fast instead of warp-speed. Feedback, Blood And Distortion is the closest we get to an anthem here, drawing it's cues from Motorhead with a refrain Lemmy could be proud of. My personal favorite here is War Is Hell, despite it being a re-recording of a track from their debut record. Still, it's a very nice taster of earlier works for fans who may only have hopped on to the Toxic Holocaust wagon with this record. I defy anyone not to holler along with the rabble-rousing “War! Is fucking hell!” chant that closes it. The rest of the tracks on display here may perhaps fly past you in the wrong mood, but there's still a fair amount of moshworthy riffs throughout. Too blackened and filthy they may be to rise to the vanguard of the retro-thrash movement, but Toxic Holocaust sound like they honestly couldn't give a fuck. An Overdose Of Death sets out to smash your face in with as little pretentiousness as possible, and there's nary a trace of vintage T-shirt-wearing-retro-hipsterism here. I must admit I have my reservations on whether Toxic Holocaust can keep the formula fresh enough to stay an exciting prospect for many more albums to come, but for now they've got bile and bite to keep you coming back for just one more fix of death, overdoses be damned.