Holy Moses - Redefined Mayhem (2014)

   Despite being one of the earliest thrash metal bands in a scene that gained wide international attention, Holy Moses was never one of the best known or most popular names in the genre. This is partly because their music was also not the easiest to go into, and partly because their performances were far from being stable, like switching from impressive albums to completely forgettable ones. For this the main reason could be that their songs always sounded like they were edited on some design table. Theoretically great compositions, but what looks good on paper, not always sounds so cool in practice. 
   Fortunately "Redefined Mayhem" counts as a wave crest in their discography - unlike for instance their following and farewell album "Invisible Queen", that could serve as a guide for how to end a band's career the most inglorious and disappointing way as possible. In fact, "Redefined Mayhem" could have been a way more worthy final album, not only because it's simply better, but also cause it sounds like a summarizing life review of the band's past. Catchy themes with the same "not too revealing" character that have been typical to their early period could be found the same way like songs with the more aggressive tone like on "Strength Power Will Passion" for instance. The returning reference to dogs also showed up in the lyrics  like in the old times (probably a strongly dog lover band), and also male vocal (not only in secondary supporting role as usual) could be heard in the last short song. And after getting used to Frau Classen's legendary voice an album length, it does effect the same way surprising as back then. For those who missed Holy Moses' early period, this record is definitely a potential favorite, cause it really shows the old school energy of the late '80s / early '90s. In fact, by the nearly complete absence of speed/thrash metal in the past 3 decades, Holy Moses was the few remaining bands who kept going (with a longer break) since the golden age of the genre and barely changed in the meantime. A nostalgic and entertaining album indeed, just the way how it was 3 decades ago.