Brave New Holocaust

After the notorious self-implosion thrash metal suffered in the '90s decade, the seeds of its renaissance were starting to grow. Its first signs (We Will Destroy... You Will Obey!!!, Extreme Hatred) went mainly unnoticed, but the new scene arguably pioneered by Violator was quick to recruit proselytes from all around the world. Okay, we all know that story by heart, don't we? What's way less known, though, is that one of the minor acts operating in that exact time frame was the short-lived Violent Night from Ohio, notable for having almost all of its members later involved with the more famous Vindicator. If there's something I got from the few information gathered around, it's that the guys managed to build somewhat of a small cult following in their local scene, before however dedicating themselves to their main band and shelving the project after very few and limited releases. Arguably, forever...

...and so was for a long time before, apparently, after many years of silence, Vic Stown and Wayne Holocaust decided to finally put out a full-length release under the Violent Night name, with no intention whatsoever to revive the project. I don't know why they waited exactly until late 2018, but it's been for the better I guess, since the frontman would soon meet a premature death due to unknown causes. Rest in peace, young brother.

I have absolutely no idea about where to find their previous releases, so I can't comment about those, but on Brave New Holocaust there's not much strictly justifying that 'progressive' tag attached to their genre. No over-indulgence, no wankery, no exaggerate ambitions, still, skills are definitely here and it's not hard to imagine the local stir they might have raised back in their days. The tempo changes are disarming, to begin with – Vindicator themselves wish they had stricken as hard as 'Seeds of Peace' final salvo at least once. Vic Stown is solid as always at the riff department, and the solos, courtesy of some guests, earlier members and friends, are all top-notch, especially those penned by Mikey B. Lial – the aforementioned track as well as 'Bite of the Chrome' above all – but 'The End', courtesy of Jeff Potts, shines nonetheless. Unfortunately, the only member appearing like a foreign body is Wayne himself, who was mainly a guitarist and shows all his limits at the mic, being unable to distance himself from your average rethrash vocalists. I don't know why, on the bridge of 'Undying Love', he briefly sounds like a bedroom black metal vocalist, but apart from that he brings a honest performance, incidentally also his last one.

The downsides – eh, they're pretty evident. The production is typical retro-thrash fare, but the already middle-of-the-road vocals of Wayne Holocaust have a hard time emerging from the pack, and ditto for the painfully inconsistent gang shouts, even if most of the problems are limited to the unfortunately subpar title-track and opener. Furthermore, since Brave New Holocaust gathers both old and new songs, it feels understandably unclear in general direction, especially when going from the onslaught that is 'Seeds of Peace' to the juvenile, early party anthem 'Light the Dynamite' and all the way to the quasi-Born to Be Wild-like 'Bite of the Chrome', only to go back to the massacre with 'Kill Command'. Understandable, but still puzzling while listening. In any case, the second half is slightly weaker, with the precious exception of the final 'The Highest Noose' which gives me Fog of War vibes like few other songs I recall – and if you know me, you'll recognize it as a huge compliment. Also, the thrash/speed hybrid 'Censored Reality' is hands down the best ‘old’ track of the bunch, and arguably pretty damn original for a 2005 song.

I still can't explain how the roughly same people heard here never made much for me with their main band (certainly Marshall Law's – or even Vic's for that matter – vocal delivery didn't help), but Brave New Holocaust turned out to be an enjoyable and technically interesting, if a bit unmemorable, little brick in the revival thrash wall, and I'm more than happy they managed to put it out despite the circumstances. Recommended to any Vindicator fan, as well as anyone who remembers the band playing in small clubs 15 years ago and lost track (and memory) of them, but every retro-thrash supporter can do much worse than give it a try.

R.I.P. Wayne Holocaust.

-review written for the 7th Diamhea Memorial Review Challenge – may you rest in peace, Chris.