Holy Terror

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Like the mythology of the fifth Beatle, tales of the first rapper are numerous and varied. The Last Poets, as a troupe of black power griots who spouted words over the wake-up call of African percussion as far back as 1968, get more than their share of original MC credit. The props, however, are partly misplaced: The B-boys to come would draw on dance sounds scratched from turntables, not the universal folk blues of the Poets. Besides, the Poets never really rapped, their verses just flowed like the banter heard everyday across 125th.

Still, the connections are there: Reality-based and race- baited, the Last Poets prefigured every rhymer from Arrested Development to Ice-T. It's no surprise, then, that longstanding name checks from rap statesmen like Afrika Bambaata and Chuck D are cashed in on Holy Terror, the group's Bill Laswell-produced comeback featuring original Poets Umar Bin Hassan and Abiodun Oyewole. From "Invocation," where Oyewole calls on rappers to "get back on track," to "Last Rites," where he laments "the absence of a movement" and promises to "change that," the Poets are out to assume their long-vacant role as father rappers--or perhaps as the creators of what we might call adult hip-hop.

Despite Holy Terror's thematic consistency, the record plays like a mesh of two separate solo albums. Oyewole hangs closer to the original sound by framing his poems in melodic chants and Conga percussion, as in "Black Rage" and "If We Only Knew." Hassan, meanwhile, trades off with rapper Melle Mel to the P-funk grooves of Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell on tracks like "Homesick" and "Funk." The older style is the better, though the words and vision of both men are clearly timeless.--Roni Sarig

Average customer rating:

Rob Flynn Had Nothing To Do With Holy Terror!!!
Get the Japanese Imports!

Mind Wars/Terror and Submission
Holy Terror
Manufacturer: Blackened Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Power from Hell
Agent Orange
To Mega Therion
Rigor Mortis
Infernal Overkill/Sentence of Death

ASIN: B0007YH6OW
Release Date: 2006-03-20

Tracks:

Black Plague
Evil's Rising
Blood of the Saints
Mortal Fear
Guardians of the Netherworld
Distant Calling
Terror and Submission
Tomorrow's End
Alpha Omega/The Bringer of Balance

Tracks:

Judas Reward
Debt of Pain
Immortal Wasteland
Fool's Gold
Terminal Humor
Mind Wars
Damned by Judges
Do Unto Others
No Resurrection
Christian Resistance

Album Description

Classic East Bay metal band featuring guitarist Rob Flynn from the successful band Machine Head. Nine tracks. Powerage.

Album Details

Packaging Together Two Classics of Thrash, Originally Released in 1988 ("Mind Wars") and 1987 ("Terror and Submission").

Customer Reviews:

Rob Flynn Had Nothing To Do With Holy Terror!!!.......2006-11-12

The editorial review for this album states that Rob Flynn of Machine Head was in Holy Terror back in the 1980's. Nothing could be further from the truth. At the time, Rob Flynn was in a second rate thrash band from San Francisco called Violence (actually I think it was Vio-Lence).

TERROR AND SUBMISSION & MIND WARS were two very good metal albums when they came out in the late 1980's. I still have the cassettes and started listening to them again earlier this year. I thought it was time to upgrade to CDs. Unfortunately, Blackened Records only did a fair job with the re-issue here. In particular, the re-mastering of TERROR AND SUBMISSION was poorly done. The guitars have been pushed way up in the mix. Being a guitar nut, I would ordinarily approve of this. However, Holy Terror was a complete band with a very good rythm section (particularly bassist Floyd Flannary). Listening to the CD of TERROR AND SUBMISSION was almost uncomfortable for me. It just felt unbalanced. Mike Alvord's guitar, which is panned to the left, has a scratchy sound to it at times that wasn't there when the album was originally released. The track-order on the Blackened Records release is different as well. When TERROR AND SUBMISSION first came out on Roadrunner Records, the track listing was as follows:

1. Evil's Rising
2. Mortal Fear
3. Distant Calling
4. Alpha Omega - The Bringer Of Balance
5. Blood Of The Saints
6. Black Plague
7. Terror And Submission
8. Tomorrow's End
9. Guardians Of The Netherworld

For some reason, I found the different track-order to be a bit distracting. However, if you've never heard the album before, I'm sure you won't notice. MIND WARS is much better. The CD sounds great and the track-order is the same as when the album was originally released. My only complaint is that there is a minor skip near the end of "Judas Reward" (that may just be on my copy though). MIND WARS is also more raw sounding than TERROR AND SUBMISSION.

Holy Terror was labeled as a thrash band, but I would disagree with that assessment. True, Holy Terror had some fast songs, but they had more in common with the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal bands that came out in the late 1970's / early 1980's than with the thrash bands that followed. In other words, Holy Terror had more melody in their sound than groups like Slayer or Possessed. For example, "Guardians Of The Netherworld" almost sounds like something Judas Priest would come up with. Singer Keith Deen had a cleaner vocal style as well. Guitarists Kurt Kilfelt and Mike Alvord could flat out PLAY. Listening to them trade lead breaks back and forth on "Tomorrow's End" is a guitar player's wet dream. Kilfelt is more the shredder type, while Alvord displays more melody. Alvord's solo on "Terror And Submission" is a masterpiece.

Hopefully, another record label will be able to secure the rights to TERROR AND SUBMISSION and do a proper job of re-mastering it.

Get the Japanese Imports!.......2006-05-17

Both of these albums are among my favorite all time Thrash masterpieces, however, as a collector I feel obligated to let would be buyers know that on track 3 of Mind Wars on this set, on the song "The Immortal Wasteland", there is a defect... a digital POP / SKIP in the song that is quite noticable. It is clearly an issue on the master itself, as the CD I had was brand new and scratch free. You would be better off tracking down the japanese import or the original 1988 RC disc of MIND WARS if you want to hear the album completely defect free. I know for some it will not be a big deal, and without this obvious defect, I would have rated this set a 5, however, if Powerage, the now defunct label who released this 2 CD set had taken better care to inspect the master before it went to press, the MIND WARS disc would have been flawless.

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El Revengo
Holy Terror
Manufacturer: Blackened Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B000BDF0FG
Release Date: 2006-10-23

Tracks:

Fools Gold/Terminal Humor
Christian Resistence
Damned by Judges
No Resurrection
Evils Rising
Mortal Fear
Distant Calling
Alpha Omega (The Bringer of Balance)
Blood of the Saints
Black Plague
Terror & Submission
Tomorrows End
Guardians of the Netherworld

Tracks:

Black Plague [Live]
Evils Rising [Live]
Judas Reward [Live]
Debt of Pain [Live]
Distant Calling [Live]
Christian Resistance [Live]
Blood of the Saints [Live]
Immoral Wasteland [Live]
Alpha Omega [Live]
Do Unto Others [Live]
Christian Resistance [Live]
Alpha Omega [Live]
Judas Reward [Live]
Black Plague [Live]

Tracks:

Judas Reward [DVD]
Bonus Material [DVD]

Album Details

Holy Terror were Formed in the Mid-1980s by Guitarist Kurt Colfelt (A.k.a. Kurt Kilfelt; Ex-agent Steel) and Ex-dark Angel Drummer Jack Schwarz, who Left Before the Release of the Band's First Album, 1987's "Terror and Submission". A Follow-up Effort, "Mind Wars", was Issued in 1988. Acclaimed Los Angeles Thrashers Holy Terror have Reformed and Are Releasing a THREE-CD Box Set Coming Out on Blackend Records featuring Outtakes, Live Stuff, Video Footage and a General Overview of the Band.

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Holy Terror
The Last Poets
Manufacturer: Innerrhythmic Found.
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

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The Last Poets

ASIN: B00049QMZY
Release Date: 2004-11-02

Tracks:

Invocation
Homesick
Black Rage
Men-Tality
Pelourinho
Funk
If We Only Knew
Illusion of Self
Talk Show
Black and Strong (Homesick)
Last Rites

Album Description

"The Last Poets were the first real hardcore rappers." --Ice Cube

Those who believe that there are no second acts in American lives ought to consider the career of post-apocalyptic urban griots The Last Poets. Hailed for the fiery intensity of their politics and their poetry from the moment they emerged in the late Sixties, The Last Poets spit forth a series of brilliant albums in the Seventies, split up and nearly guttered out in the Eighties, and reemerged in the Nineties into the embrace of a new generation of word-intoxicated rappers who recognize that the Poets' fire and intelligence are more necessary than ever. For the first time in over twenty years, original members Umar Bin Hassan and Abiodun Oyewole (aka Dune) reunited under The Last Poets banner and released Holy Terror, an album as vital and relevant as any work by the Poets in the 70's. Produced by Bill Laswell, Holy Terror features additional lyrics and vocals by Grandmaster Melle Mel, fat, funky grooves from Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell as well as a bonus remix track with guest vocals by George Clinton.

Mind Wars
Average customer rating:

Tear Your Soul Apart
Mind Wars
Holy Terror
Manufacturer: Roadrunner
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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ASIN: B0002UKNUA

Product Description

The original release of Holy Terror, Mind Wars.

Customer Reviews:

Tear Your Soul Apart.......2006-02-23

Yes. That's exactly what it does. These guys went under the radar and easily could have been on the front lines of thrash metal. This album was a little ahead of it's time, with the whiny yet snarling vocal style of Keith Deen and the neverending assault of angry and aggressive guitar work with some blistering solos that rip through these songs by two guitarists that went completely unnoticed. The music reminds me of the chaos the Living Death members created in Mekong Delta, an onslaught of metal brilliance constantly grinding at your senses until you are left raw at the end of this album. If you liked Meking Delta, or even old Whiplash with some unconventional clean and snarling vocals, check this out. This album grew on me over the years and I'm still jamming it today more than ever. Cheers!

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Long-time players holding forth
Maybe they should have been called the First Poets

Holy Terror
The Last Poets
Manufacturer: Rykodisc
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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General | Funk | R&B | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B0000009PL
Release Date: 1995-04-18

Tracks:

Invocation
Homesick
Black Rage
Men-Tality
Pelourinho
Funk
If We Only Knew
Illusion Of Self
Talk Show
Black And Strong (Homesick)
Last Rites

Amazon.com

Like the mythology of the fifth Beatle, tales of the first rapper are numerous and varied. The Last Poets, as a troupe of black power griots who spouted words over the wake-up call of African percussion as far back as 1968, get more than their share of original MC credit. The props, however, are partly misplaced: The B-boys to come would draw on dance sounds scratched from turntables, not the universal folk blues of the Poets. Besides, the Poets never really rapped, their verses just flowed like the banter heard everyday across 125th.

Still, the connections are there: Reality-based and race- baited, the Last Poets prefigured every rhymer from Arrested Development to Ice-T. It's no surprise, then, that longstanding name checks from rap statesmen like Afrika Bambaata and Chuck D are cashed in on Holy Terror, the group's Bill Laswell-produced comeback featuring original Poets Umar Bin Hassan and Abiodun Oyewole. From "Invocation," where Oyewole calls on rappers to "get back on track," to "Last Rites," where he laments "the absence of a movement" and promises to "change that," the Poets are out to assume their long-vacant role as father rappers--or perhaps as the creators of what we might call adult hip-hop.

Despite Holy Terror's thematic consistency, the record plays like a mesh of two separate solo albums. Oyewole hangs closer to the original sound by framing his poems in melodic chants and Conga percussion, as in "Black Rage" and "If We Only Knew." Hassan, meanwhile, trades off with rapper Melle Mel to the P-funk grooves of Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell on tracks like "Homesick" and "Funk." The older style is the better, though the words and vision of both men are clearly timeless.--Roni Sarig

Customer Reviews:

Long-time players holding forth.......2004-12-08

Anyone who has had enough of today's well-worn hip-hop meditations on guns, women, jewelry and drugs should turn their attention to the Last Poets, who began delivering rhymes based on street rhythm and speech long before many of today's entertainers were born. "Holy Terror" reminds us that some performers still believe that art can be used to stimulate new modes of thought in the listener.

In their debut album in 1968, the Last Poets "rapped" over rhythms produced only on simple percussion instruments. On "Holy Terror," the backing is at times heavy organ- and guitar-based funk, as on "Homesick," "Funk" and "Black and Strong." Still, the words are the thing, and Umar Bin Hassan and Abidou Oyewole continue to produce poetry of the spoken word that goes far beyond mere rhyming.

The main themes remain black pride, the need to know one's history, and challenges to society to correct corrosive social conditions, even as the words also insist every individual is to take responsibility for his or her own life.

Of the two, Oyewole tends to be the more overtly political, while Oyewole concentrates on wedding poetic imagery to social themes. Hassan is particularly effective in laying down a challenge to present-day rappers in "Invocation" and in his stirring revival of a Brazilian slave-trading city, "Pelourinho." In "Black Rage," he paints a portrait of inner cities whose young residents are "bombs, waiting to explode." The portrait is complex. He clearly faults society for its indifference, but he also laments the waste of youthful energy that could be used to reshape society. Hassan is direct, strident and his words hit you between the eyes.

As for Hassan, the only way to truly appreciate him is to listen to him (also check out his great solo effort, "To the Last".) His voice and spoken rhythms are like no one else's, and his poetry blends complex images with mocking humor and indignation, among other things. His world view is also surprisingly conservative at times, as in "Men-Tality," which decries lenient social mores and banal relationships based on sex alone. His best extended poetic trip is on "Homesick," which manages to sum up the historical challenges of African-Americans in a torrent of words, ideas and images.

A listener new to the Last Poets would find, I think, a comparison of "Holy Terror" with their first album very rewarding. For those who love the spoken word, several purchases of their long list of recordings will surely follow.

Maybe they should have been called the First Poets.......2002-01-04

The political rhetoric comes off as dated in tracks like Pelourinho, but that can be forgiven due to the rich blend of street funk, African percussions and oratory. That's right. Even if Bin Hassan's lyrics feel stale upon close examination, his rambling voice engulfs the ear.
Unfortunately, none of this can save "Funk", a tired blend of pieces that don't fit. Bootsy Collins, Melle Mel, George Clinton and others collaborated on this album, but Funk sounds like the Poets were surprised so many artists agreed to contribute, so they had to be given something to perform and be given production credit. Remove this track and the album gets much better.

Average customer rating:

Long-time players holding forth
Maybe they should have been called the First Poets

Holy Terror
Last Poets
Manufacturer: P-Vine
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

East Coast | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

General | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music

Old School | Rap & Hip-Hop | Styles | Music
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Retro-Fit
The Real Rap
Freedom Express
Poetry Is Black

ASIN: B000000JMO
Release Date: 1994-07-08

Amazon.com

Still, the connections are there: Reality-based and race- baited, the Last Poets prefigured every rhymer from Arrested Development to Ice-T. It's no surprise, then, that longstanding name checks from rap statesmen like Afrika Bambaata and Chuck D are cashed in on Holy Terror, the group's Bill Laswell-produced comeback featuring original Poets Umar Bin Hassan and Abiodun Oyewole. From "Invocation," where Oyewole calls on rappers to "get back on track," to "Last Rites," where he laments "the absence of a movement" and promises to "change that," the Poets are out to assume their long-vacant role as father rappers--or perhaps as the creators of what we might call adult hip-hop.

Customer Reviews:

Long-time players holding forth.......2004-12-08

Maybe they should have been called the First Poets.......2002-01-04

Average customer rating:

Get the Japanese Imports
Completely Underrated
Very solid 80s style heavy metal/speed metal
Holy Terror/Terror and Submission

Mind Wars/Terror and Submission
Holy Terror
Manufacturer: Powerage
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Hardcore | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Tracks:

Terror And Submission: Black Plague
Terror And Submission: Evil's Rising
Terror And Submission: Blood Of the Saints
Terror And Submission: Mortal Fear
Terror And Submission: Guardians Of The Netherworld
Terror And Submission: Distant Calling
Terror And Submission
Terror And Submission: Tomorrow's End
Terror And Submission: Alpha Omega/The Bringer Of Balance

Tracks:

Mind Wars:Mind Wars: Judas Reward
Mind Wars: Debt Of Pain
Mind Wars: The Immortal Wasteland
Mind Wars: A Fool's Gold
Mind Wars: Terminal Humor
Mind Wars: Mind Wars
Mind Wars: Damned By Judges
Mind Wars: Do Unto Others
Mind Wars: No Resurrection
Mind Wars: Christian Resistance

Customer Reviews:

Get the Japanese Imports.......2006-05-12

Completely Underrated.......2003-01-24

"Mind Wars", one of the excellent albums included in this two-disc set, is easily one of the most underrated thrash/metal albums of all time. The vocal arrangements on Mind Wars are absolutely amazing, and the vocal style ranges from thrashy growling to melodic clean vocals. The music is generally fast throughout, and sounds genuinely passionate. It is a shame that this band never recieved the recognition they deserve from the metal community... pick this one up and give it a chance!

Very solid 80s style heavy metal/speed metal.......1999-11-18

Man! I've been looking for Terror and Submission on CD for years. This is great stuff for those who remember what good metal was, back before Metallica's infamous "black album."

Holy Terror/Terror and Submission.......1999-06-18

The thing that bothers me most about a good albulm such as Terror and Submission, is that good music hardly ever gets recognized. Sure there are various other bands with suposed talent...yeah right. Most bands of today really suck, but yet there are a few underground groups that remain undiscovered. It's a shame that this group went to waste, especially with good vocals, music, and lyrics. Most bands of today don't offer 1 of the 3 traits of a good albulm as I have mentioned above. If I could go higher than 5 stars for Terror and Submission...I would

Average customer rating:

Terror and Submission
Holy Terror
Manufacturer: Roadrunner
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Hardcore | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000008GM3

Average customer rating:

A Call to Arms

Manufacturer: Holy Terror
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
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ASIN: B000248RFO

Product Description

Punk rock

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Mind Wars
Holy Terror
Manufacturer: Music For Nations
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000J3GDOA

Product Description

TRACKLIST:1. Judas Reward 04:30 (2. Debt Of Pain 02:36 (3. The Immoral Wasteland 05:17 (4. A Fool`s Gold/Terminal Humor/Mind Wars 07:53 (5. Damned By Judges 06:37 (6. Do Unto Others 04:05 (7. No Resurrection 04:03 (8. Christian Resistance 04:38 -----------Holy Terror's second and last album is an unfortunately unknown release in the world of thrash, with a title that strongly suggests a conceptual theme. Honestly now, there are some albums that just have titles that make them sound like they're concept albums. This is one of them. When I first heard the title I thought it would be about two crazy Vulcans competing with each other in an attempt to take over the universe. It isn't a concept album, but it is a near-perfect example of all of the strengths of speed metal, executed in an exciting and entertaining manner, with all of the ingredients of a thrash classic. Listening to it now I can't see how this deserves any less than a near-perfect score.

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