Holocaust (band)
| holocaust | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Heavy metal |
| founding | 1977 |
| Current occupation | |
| John Mortimer | |
| John McCullim | |
| Bryan Bartley | |
| Ron Levine | |
Holocaust is a heavy metal band from Scotland .
history
Holocaust was founded in Edinburgh in 1977 and was an important part of the so-called " New Wave of British Heavy Metal " movement. After the departure of John Mortimer ( electric guitar ) and the unsuccessful EP Comin 'Through , Holocaust broke up at the end of 1982. A resuscitation attempt in 1984 with the album No Man's Land , which completely lacked the rough sound of the earlier days, failed.
So it was not until 1988 that John Mortimer put together a new line-up with Graham Hall ( electric bass ) and Steve Cowen ( drums ). Original singer Gary Lettice was not available for this, Mortimer took over the singing himself. As the first release of the new Holocaust, the mini album The Sound of Souls (1989) showed, it was not about preserving the sound of the 1980s, but rather one to develop new, hard, modern forms of Heavy Metal with longer, more complex pieces. This development could already be anticipated in older songs like The Nightcomers or The Small Hours, which was covered by Metallica , but the musical change frightened many fans off. Despite the extremely modest success of the new studio albums, the band was active and played e.g. B. 1993 at the Wacken Open Air . The concept album Covenant was based on a cycle of novels by fantasy writer Stephen R. Donaldson . In the mixed line-up with two Scots (Mortimer and guitarist John McCullim) and two Americans (drummer Ron Levine and bassist Bryan Bartley) the album Primal was recorded until June 2002 .
It was not until 2015 that another studio album, Predator , was released by the band, which has now shrunk to a trio (minus guitarist McCullim). With Elder Gods , the ninth studio album followed in 2019.
Discography
Albums
- The Nightcomers (1981)
- Live (Hot Curry and Wine) (1983)
- No Man's Land (1984)
- The Sound of Souls (1989, mini album)
- Hypnosis of Birds (1992)
- Spirits Fly (1996, expanded version of Hypnosis of Birds )
- Covenant (1997)
- The Courage to Be (2000)
- Smokin 'Valves: The Anthology (2003, compilation)
- Primal (2003)
- Predator (2015)
- Elder Gods (2019)
Singles and EPs
- Heavy Metal Mania (1981, 12 "EP)
- Live From the Raw Loud'n'Live Tour (1981, 7 "EP)
- Comin 'Through (1982, 12 "EP)
- Heavy Metal Mania (1993, CD single)
Others
- The current drummer, Ron Levine, is also the maintainer of the band's website. The group only made him a drummer when they became aware of him through the fan website he had created.
- Former guitarist Ed Dudley and drummer Raymond Marciano formed a group called Hologram and went in a more melodic hard rock direction than their previous band. The group released a record Steal the Stars in 1983.
- Metallica coverten the song The Small Hours on her plate the 1987 Garage Days Re-Revisited , as well as on the album Garage Inc. .
- Gamma Ray covered Heavy Metal Mania on their 1995 single Rebellion in Dreamland and their 1996 live album Alive '95 .
- Six Feet Under covered Death or Glory from The Nightcomers on their 1997 album Warpath .