Holy Moses- 30th Anniversary-In The Power Of Now.

Holy Moses may well be an unknown name to many metal fans but they were one of the 1st  German thrash metal bands after forming in Aachen, Germany in 1980. Angela Gossow from Arch Enemy seems to receive all the attention for a female fronting a heavy metal band but statuesque  Sabina Classen  joined Holy Moses way back  in  Dec. 1981 and still fronts them to this day. I was fortunate to see them play the main stage at the Bloodstock Festival  August 15th 2010 and was immediately hooked by their pummelling old school thrash metal topped off by a show stopping vocal performance by Sabina.

30th Anniversary- In The Power Of Now was recorded in 2011 and features 22 tracks on 2 cds. 20 are re-recordings of old Holy Moses material and the remaining 2 are new songs. They come in a high class digipack with an extensive booklet featuring liner notes,rare photos etc. It will be released via Steamhammer/SPV records in Europe on April 23rd 2012 and in Germany on April 20th 2012.

Any fan of thrash metal will embrace this release. It gives old Holy Moses fans the chance to hear the re-recorded  versions of the songs + the 2 new ones recorded with new drummer Gerd Lucking and new fans have a “best of” compilation from Holy Moses’ 10 full length albums!. 30th Anniversary- In The Power Of Now has more time changes than Doctor Who and without going into track by track detail my personal favourites are 1st cd  opener Clash My Soul full of dizzying rhythms and death metal vocals.  Jungle Of Lies’ acoustic intro is  followed by a stuttering guitar riff leading into another blur fest! The mid paced/full on thrash of Symbol Of  Spirit. The  Sepultura style riffing on SSP. The 6 min long brooding Lost In The Maze which has a Dead Skin Mask by Slayer feel to it. The nagging riff in Welcome To The Real World which you cant get out of your head after 1st listen and the speed metal melodic intro that runs through the hyper speed Near Dark.

Onto the highlights of cd2 which begins with the warp speed riffing of Reborn Dogs. Def Con II  is mid paced with band backing vocals and some fast footwork from Gerd. Disorder Of The Order’s  slow groove has an almost spoken word vocal, strewn with melodic guitar passages. The tempo changes in Corroded Dreams are impossible to be put into words! The 2nd new song Entering The Now is a balls to the wall riff laden old school thrasher and Creation Of Violation’s buzzsaw guitars intertwine with the slower parts which are similar to Behind The Crooked Cross by Slayer.

So there you have it, 22 tracks of molten thrash metal running in at about 85 minutes. Buy it and crank it up to 11! m/

Holy Moses line up :-

Sabina Classen- Vocals.

Michael Hankel- Guitars.

Oliver Jaath- Rhythm Guitars/Backing Vocals.

Gerd Lucking- Drums.

CD1 Track Listing  :-

Clash My Soul.

Jungle Of Lies.

Finished With The Dogs.

Symbol Of Spirit.

World Chaos.

SSP.

Borderland ( new track ).

Lost In The Maze.

Walpurgisnight.

Welcome To The Real World.

Near Dark.

CD2 Track Listing :-

Reborn Dogs.

Def Con II.

I Feel Sick.

Nothing For My Mum.

Disorder Of  The Order.

Corroded Dreams.

Entering The Now ( new track ).

Creation Of Violation.

Panic.

Decapitated Minds.

Master Of  Disaster.

I  award  30th Anniversary- In The Power Of Now 9.5/10!