Maximum Metal Rating Legend
5 Excellent - Masterpiece. A classic.
4.5-4 Great - Almost perfect records but there's probably a lacking.
3.5 Good - Most of the record is good, but there may be some filler.
3 Average - Some good songs, some bad ones at about a half/half ratio.
2.5-2 Fair - Worth a listen, but best obtained by collectors.
1.5-1 Bad - Major problems with music, lyrics, production, etc.
0 Terrible - Waste of your life and time.

Note: Reviews are graded from 0-5, anything higher or not showing is from our old style. Scores, however, do not reveal the important features. The written review that accompanies the ratings is the best source of information regarding the music on our site. Reviewing is opinionated, not a qualitative science, so scores are personal to the reviewer and could reflect anything from being technically brilliant to gloriously cheesy fun.

Demos and independent releases get some slack since the bands are often spent broke supporting themselves and trying to improve. Major releases usually have big financial backing, so they may be judged by a heavier hand. All scores can be eventually adjusted up or down by comparison of subsequent releases by the same band. We attempt to keep biases out of reviews and be advocates of the consumer without the undo influence of any band, label, management, promoter, etc.

The best way to determine how much you may like certain music is to listen to it yourself.
Band
Holy Moses
Title
Agony of Death
Type
LP/EP
Company
Wacken Records
YOR
2008
Style
Thrash
11/14/2008 - Review by: Hail and Kill

Holy Moses
Agony of Death

Company: Wacken Records
Release: 2008
Reviewer: Hail and Kill
Genre: Thrash

  • A crash course in Thrash Metal



  • While the metal world is hotly anticipating the new Kreator album, "Hordes of Chaos", Germany's more obscure pioneering Thrash band have just released the latest chapter of their discography to lesser fanfare. Music-wise, "Agony of Death" doesn't bring anything new to the table, but it's by rounding the wheel that everyone is guaranteed a good time. A lot of reviewers aren't comfortable with its 70-minute length, but these write ups totally miss the point. Holy Moses aren't neglecting any details here, going so far as adding epic flourishes to their two dimensional sound such as the Axel Rudi Pell keyboardist's classy touches at the beginning of some songs. Another perfect example would be "Schizophrenia," which arrives on track seven bearing this Megadeth chunkiness married to the upper register wails of Metalium's Henning Basse.

    Dissecting the "Agony of Death" roller coaster from top to bottom, the album's initial ambiance proves as inviting as its cover art. The air raid siren and explosions at its first minute set the listener's grim mood for "Imagination." Once the decibels start racing, Sabina Classen, the uncelebrated progenitress of extreme female vocals, proceeds to mangle her lyrics. Featuring a choice breakdown married to a brilliant guitar lick around its middle, "Imagination" merely whets the listener's appetite for what's to come. The next song, "Alienation," is cast from the same mold as its predecessor and even has the Axel Rudi Pell guy once again lending it a smidgen of sophisticated keyboards before the riffs churn.

    "Agony of Death" starts to diversify once the flamboyant guitar solo that opens "World of Darkness" harnesses the band's melodic side. The rugged quintet let go of the brakes once more on "Bloodbound of the Damned," whose gang-style chants betray a very Teutonic "Bloodbound of zzze Damned!!!" The album reaches its climax on the vitriolic tandem "Pseudohalluzination" and "Angels In War." Pushing the envelope further, token beat-your-chest breakdowns inspires a circle pit for "Dissociative Disorder," yet to avoid somebody getting killed the band brings in "Delusional Denial" for headbanging fun. "The Retreat" marks Holy Moses' last frenzied outburst before they sashay to its ending at mid tempo.

    Booming horns and humming violins are the whisper that closes "Through Shattered Minds," a suitable finale for this spectacle of sonic violence. Now if the youth of today ever need a crash course in Thrash Metal, Testament's latest, the re-mastered "Bonded by Blood" and this album form their core curriculum. Conversion is imminent.



    • 1 :REVIEW COUNT
      4 :AVE RATING

    ALL REVIEWS FOR: HOLY MOSES
    TITLE
    DOR
    COMPANY
    REVIEWER DATE MADE RATING
    Agony of Death
    2008
    Wacken Records
    Hail and Kill11/14/2008
    4
    Strength, Power, Will, Passion
    2005
    Armageddon
    Eric Compton5/26/2005
    -

    ALL INTERVIEWS FOR: HOLY MOSES
    INTERVIEW INTERVIEWER DATE TAGLINE


    << back >>