Invisible Queen

With Invisible Queen German thrash legends Holy Moses bring their 13th studio album to the people and at the same time the metal queen Sabina Classen will then also retire with her band. This is quite a pity, because Invisible Queen has become a pretty strong swan song, which, however, must first grow as a whole.

Holy Moses does not make it very easy for the listener. On one hand you can often find quite dissonant parts in the songs, which are quite reminiscent of Voivod, on the other hand the production has also become quite primal and rough and is very reminiscent of the 80s. Apart from that, some songs seem quite chaotic and brute at first and you need a few listens until you have opened the twelve songs. The two pre-release singles 'Cult Of The Machine' (which is very reminiscent of the 1992 album Reborn Dogs in terms of dynamics) and 'Invisible Queen' are good examples of this. What happens in 'Cult Of The Machine' is hard to put into words - hysterical screams, gang shouts and propulsive, super-fast guitar riffs characterize the song and make it pretty hard to digest. 'Invisible Queen', on the other hand, is a very catchy song in the beginning until the vocals kick in and with them a rather repetitive part that is a bit exhausting. The chorus then hits again it's very melodic and invites you to relax for a few seconds. 'Depersonalized' is another pretty groovy track with some very intricate technical guitar riffs and for musically demanding listeners certainly a highlight due to its compositional sophistication.

But there are also consistently catchy songs that are almost too easy to listen to. 'Alternative Reality' is a groovy thrash grenade, which mostly moves in the mid-tempo range and impresses with some cool guitar solos and a catchy rhythm. 'Visions In Red' is a pretty brutal song, which is almost death metal in parts, especially when Sabina growls deep. In 'Forces Great And Hidden' Sabina once again shows her whole vocal range. From high screams to deep passages, everything is there and it is quite impressive that the young lady still manages this with her being almost 60 years young. Holy Moses' musical journey ends with 'Through The Veils Of Sleep' and whoever thought that a melancholic finale would be presented at the end is very much mistaken. They go once again kicking violently and a thrashing a thunderstorm with powerful riffs and drums celebrated, so that no stone is left unturned.

There are hardly any reasons to complain about Invisible Queen. Maybe because some songs are very exhausting (but that has always been the case with Holy Moses) and because the production sounds so out of time (but that's nothing new either) - otherwise everything is top notch.

Thanks a lot for the great years!

Rating: 9 out of 10 swan songs

Originally written for metalbite.com