Metal Reviews

Holy Terror - Mind Wars
Thrash/Speed Metal
Quoted: CLASSIC

I respectfully disagree, these guys were and are still one of the most creatively extreme bands coming out of the eighties. No one even remotely touched the tempo and skill of musicianship, as to execute melodies and leads in Christian Resistance and No Resurrection that trounce Kreator even in terms of power. When I first heard this band about two years ago I was blown away, and everytime I hear Mind wars it's a throwback to a time when extremity in metal wasn't measured by wanking needlessly, shitty gore lyrics, or trying to outblast other bands. These guys were onto something and they are still one of the most extreme bands in metal I'd wager even more so than any modern death metal band I've ever heard.

COTB, can you then suggest a couple of said vital classics that should have been done in place of this, perhaps in thisthread?

I've listed many over the years... I don't really have any stake in the matter, just making an observation, which is, after all, the purpose of the forums.

Absolutely, and I'm trying to organise things so that said classics can get done, which is what we all want at the end of the day. It's all appreciated when done as constructively as you did here.

Good album.
Alas, not really a classic... when are you guys going to start whittling down the true classics? There are some very very stark omissions here.
Just because an album is highly regarded doesn't automatically make it a classic.

Not trying to be a dick or start an argument, but that's just my $0.02.

Good thrash album, not a classic.
Well said, Val.

No arguments here... but is it a classic?

In my opinion, as good as it is, it is a very good archive.

Top notch musicianship? Check
Innovative? Well, kinda...
Representative of the time period? Again, kinda.
Withstands the test of time? Check
Influential? ...
Is it a milestone in the genre? Not really.

Not to mention their relative obscurity, especially at the time.

If all the above were in the affirmative, I'd say yes, it's a classic; but, being that a few of the criteria are not really met, I have to no, not quite a classic.

Of course, that's just my opinion.

A classic does imply an album that was universally recognised as influential and as a stand out album for that genre.

agree about the underground. Hence I mentioned bands such as Possessed and Darkthrone. I'd happily add bands such as Repulsion, Autopsy and Exciter in there as well.

I just think that the Jag Panzer album is too obscure to be genre defining. In all my time near 20 years of listening to metal, I've never come across any references to their impact until this review.

Yet genre defining albums tend to get name dropped a lot, be it by the Metal journalists or by the bands themselves when citing influences.

Jag Panzer on the other hand is not mentioned at all.

I'd say the same thing about bands such as Artillery or Edge of Sanity whom I absolutely love. By Inheritance and Purgatory Afterglow are two of my favourite albums but are not genre defining or impactful enough to warrant a Classic tag.

I think to a degree it's about historical misperception. I remember when Cancer and Onslaught reformed a number of online articles were published calling them highly influential or seminal bands.

Yet they were not. They wrote some great stuff but were obscure and generally stuck and forgotten in the mire of the Thrash and Death tidal waves of the time. They were third or fourth tier players in the scene.

At the same time, I've seen bands such as WASP referred to as underground Metal bands.

So the truth is Cancer and Onslaught were nobodies while WASP was actually somewhat commercially successful and even caught the ire of Tipper Gore's PMRC.

The internet has made these bands more popular than during the time they were actually active.

Perhaps, we should re-evaluate what constitutes a genre defining classic as opposed to an underground classic. If considered within that context than I can see your point, though I still firmly see it as an 'underground' classic, regardless of if your logic in your final point being it must be a "milestone". As for me I see it as being far above anything in the American thrash mainstream, no band even remotely touched that level of musicianship with the exception of other underground acts. So if one is to adequately search in the pool and myriad of 80's/early 90's metal releases, it would behoove a reviewer much more so to consider the above criterion more so than any nebulous "genre defining" criterion. Besides, there are a multitude of underground releases in extreme metal regarded as classics, some of which don't even make the cut due too overhyped/overregarded albums based on even some of what you have stated defines a release as thus.

Would you say anything by Blasphemy, Infester, Incantation, Countess, Goatlord, Vulcano, or any underground extreme act should be seen as less than classic simply because it wasn't a "milestone" in terms of a sphere of influence?

I'd also like to see that list V. Perhaps, you even have some older albums that have escaped my notice, as I wasn't even aware of Profanum or Gehenna until you brought them up

I understand your point, and if a given album within the "extreme" sphere of metal is represntative of it's subgenre, then of course it's classic... obviously Incantation (and many others) has an album or two that would qualify. I really believe that influence (and pioneering new territory, when applicable) is the issue here.

Holy Terror just were too obscure and never really influential enough to merit classic status with either of their albums.
Hell, maybe I'm wrong, but I think we are just going to have to allow a difference of opinion on this one.

I hope this made sense, because I'm pretty baked right now, haha