Toxic Holocaust - Chemistry of Consciousness

Now THAT'S a fucking metal album cover. Lace up your Vans, grab your board, and CRANK THIS SHIT UP!I have my own opinion of the whole "punk metal" genre. My take: it's metal. Technically, music experts would most likely excoriate me for my unsophisticated knowledge of heavy music, but that's where I stand. Case in point, Oregonian maniacs Toxic Holocaust's opening track to their latest musical screed Chemistry of Consciousness, Awaken the Serpent, sounds like classic metal in the vein of Motörhead's Ace of Spades. And I would never call The 'Head a punk band.

That aside, Toxic Holocaust has put together another delightfully brutal soundtrack to our modern world, replete with officious pricks, and serves as a fine follow up to their previous effort, Conjure and Command. Founder Joel Grind continues to singlehandedly (he performs all of the instruments) make some of the best classic thrash metal music today like it's as easy as breathing, and I couldn't be more satisfied with this.

The Bottom Line: The usual topics are here, post-apocalyptic imagery and gritty reservation in a world permeated with self-serving politicians and businessmen all looking to make a buck off of the less fortunate or informed. But the real strength here is the breakneck speed riffage and machine gun blast beats that make for some kick ass beer-fueled catharsis.

Tracks To Make You Wanna Dig Your Old Skateboard Out Of The Closet: The whole damn thing!

- Genghis really wishes he had learned to skate back in the day...