Here is a review of TERROR AND SUBMISSION and MIND WARS by Mr. Richard Stuart. You guys should check out his site, it has a lot of good reading about a lot of great bands. Thanx for your contribution Richard, I really appreciate it.

Newsgroups: alt.rock-n-roll.metal.death,alt.thrash,alt.rock-n-roll.metal,alt.rock-n-roll.metal.heavy Subject: Review of Holy Terror - 'Terror and Submission/Mind Wars' Date: Wed, 14 Apr 1999 23:30:59 +0100

Holy Terror are a Thrash band from the 1980's, who released two albums, and then just seemed to disappear. 'Terror and Submission,' which was originally released in 1987, and 'Mind Wars,' which was originally released in 1988, were re-released by Powerage last year as a 2-CD thingy for the price of one. I bought this 2-CD package a few months ago, without having heard the band previously. I'd like to thank Sylvain Moisan for recommending them to me. I'll review both albums in one go, and the final rating will be for the whole thing too.

TERROR AND SUBMISSION:
1. Black Plague 2. Evil's Rising 3. Blood Of The Saints 4. Mortal Fear 5. Guardians Of The Netherworld 6. Distant Calling 7. Terror And Submission 8. Tomorrow's End 9. Alpha Omega - The Bringer Of Balance (total running time: 42:26)

MIND WARS:
1. Judas Reward 2. Debt Of Pain 3. The Immoral Wasteland 4. A Fool's Gold 5. Terminal Humor 6. Mind Wars 7. Damned By Judges 8. Do Unto Others 9. No Resurrection 10. Christian Resistance (total running time: 39:39)

Holy Terror aren't really as well known as they should be. Apart from a tribute article in Terrorizer magazine last year, they aren't generally mentioned in the same breath as other 'classic' bands from the 80's. Personally I consider their quite unique style of melodic thrash to be something most Metal fans should consider checking out if they haven't already done so. For a rough idea of what they sound like, songs such as 'Evil's Rising' remind me of Megadeth's 'Killing Is My Business...' debut, others have hints of Slayer, although rather than stop there they blend this style with a strong dose of melody a'la Angel Witch or Iron Maiden. The tempo is fast a lot of the time, but songs like 'Blood Of The Saints' also have slower, almost Celtic Frost-ish sections. 'Debt Of Pain' and 'No Resurrection' are mainly fast yet still have melodic choruses that even non-Metallers would probably appreciate, but without sounding wimpy or too accessible. Each album has one particular song which is generally more melodic than the others - from 'Terror And Submission' it's 'Distant Calling,' and from 'Mind Wars' it's 'The Immortal Wasteland' - and these songs stand out from the first listen. Before long, however, pretty much all the songs sound familiar when you hear them, but still with the feeling that there's more there you need to discover in the music. The vocals are sometimes sort of 'shouted' and sometimes sung melodically, but both styles are done very well. Again, I'm sometimes reminded of Dave Mustaine from the early Megadeth albums, although the Holy Terror vocalist is perhaps more capable of singing melodically than Mustaine in those days (in 'Distant Calling' for example). The lyrics are quite interesting - here's an example from 'The Immoral Wasteland':

"From the street, the leukemia leader, Emphatic prophets speak Divining reach, the hand of fate Providence of true belief The raven cries, it's callous caw For kismet iniquity Knighted brothers, Sextons to the church Partriarchs against the ebb of eternal night"

A few things to listen out for include the beginning of 'Tomorrow's End,' which is literally a sample or impression of Donald Duck speaking, for some rather bizarre reason. Also check out the weird courtroom intro to 'Damned By Judges.' And if you have this particular 2-CD release (rather than the original versions of the albums), don't panic if there's a 'skip' at about 4:07 minutes in the song 'Judas Reward' - apparently all the copies have that, unfortunately. Another down point to this release is that there are no lyrics included in the inlay. My favorite of the two albums is probably 'Terror And Submission,' but both albums are full of very memorable songs, and since you get both for the price of one you can't really go wrong here. Overall rating: 9 out of 10.

Here is a review of MIND WARS by Mark Palmer from Metal Forces #31, 1988.

HOLY TERROR - MIND WARS (Under One Flag - FLAG 25)

Rating: 95/100

After a string of not-as-good-as-the-previous one releases from the likes of TESTAMENT, SLAYER, DEATH ANGEL and METALLICA, it's good to actually hear a band actually progress in '88. In fact, "Mind Wars" should help set the record straight for the 'TERROR, as last years "Terror And Submission" had some great material, let down by a low-budget production.

This time around the mix is again handled by main man Kurt Kilfelt, but with a bit more experience and money the results are ten times better. Musically, the material is still fast, but with a much more focused attack, allowing the pace to drop when necessary. Kilfelt and Alvord are now one of the most potent guitar duos beside Holt/Hunolt on the strength of "Mind Wars". While Keith Deen's vocals continue to stretch beyond the realm or normality. OK, so he still shouts, but boy can he soar as well.

The tracks? Well, "Judas Reward" opens with a monster of a mosh riff, inducing a frenzy of sharp, thrash, before a drum-led tribal riff tops it off. "Damned By Judges", with its courtroom scene intro, is the tightest of speed, lashing of melody and an almost RUSH-like mid-section. "Do Unto Others" is this albums "Tomorrows End" with Deen spewing the lyrics at racing commentary speed with the bass/drum axis of Flanary/Mitchell stopping the backing form developing into a messy blur.
However, two tracks really prove HOLY TERROR's development. "The Immoral Wasteland" develops a galloping tempo from a balladic intro, with some excellent harmony soloing from, I presume, Kilfelt. Moody and magnificent, this track is ample evidence that the TERROR have grown up.

The lengthy "Fools Gold"/"Terminal Humor"/"Mind Wars" trilogy is equally stunning. An initial burst of speed, with guitar solos everywhere, only for a short bass interlude and chainsaw riff to mosh it back up. Then a spoken monologue precedes a return to SLAYER velocity and Deen spitting out the conclusion.

Elsewhere there's "Debt Of Pain", "No Resurrection" and "Christian Resistance" all showing off their newly-improved powerful, brutal but controlled sound. Yep, there's no doubt that "Mind Wars" is one hot piece of vinyl. Maybe not the one to really do the business, but certainly a big stepping stone. Let's just hope they tour the UK again soon, so I can make up for the fuck-up of not seeing them last time.