Joel Grind is back with yet another slab of proto punk/black/thrash metal for his fifth release on Relapse Records. His latest work is called Chemistry of Consciousness and it continues to fuse together his rabid attitude towards creating a melange of punk and metal, while keeping things raw and barbaric sounding. You have to admire his ongoing tenacity to write extreme music consistently over the last several years, especially given how Toxic Holocaust began life as a one man show.
Now with a full band supporting him since Conjure and Command (released in 2011), Joel finds himself in that familiar pattern of full-on intensity and brimming with a punk rock attitude. The album blisters along for twenty-eight minutes and pummels the listener with eleven songs brewed from the musician’s toxicity of song-writing abilities. He spits out thrash riffs at an alarming rate, barks out his vocals and gives his fans satanic laced lyrics in the vein of classic bands like Venom, Sodom and Discharge.
The band never lets up on the speed though and on tracks like “Rat Eater”, “Salvation is Waiting” and “Out of the Fire” raises the level of brutality. The atmosphere becomes even more explosive when you get to a track like “I Serve…” and is followed by an absolutely rabid performance from Joel on “International Conspiracy”. The majority of these songs may in fact blend together so effortlessly and that it can turn off some, but I found the flow of the album much to my liking after each repeat listen.
Toxic Holocaust continues to carve a vicious path of thrashing blast beats and non-stop metallic speed with each successive new release. My only worry is the lack of variation, relying heavily upon the same template every time out. Chemistry of Consciousness is not unlike An Overdose of Death or any other previous release, but at least the intensity level is turned up several notches here. It works this time around, but I think it’s crucial for the band to delve into more variety for the next studio recording; otherwise they may just become a parody of themselves.
In the meantime, enjoy Joel Grind’s most brutal effort to date and know that Toxic Holocaust is here to bring the plague of noise to all of mankind. Chemistry of Consciousness is definitely a keeper.
Kenneth Gallant, Editor HMS
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