Review Summary: Ripping
Upon the close of the 1980s, the groundwork of extreme metal has already been set firmly within the soil of releases by Death, Possesed, Morbid Angel, and countless other thrash and early death metal bands. Many bands now released albums influenced by by these early pioneers and the ground was set for further development within the genre. One of these bands who realised their potential within extreme metal is Massacra, with their debut album, Final Holocaust.
The album opens up with an operatic sample which is rather surprising to hear immediately, but soon after this introduction ends we are introduced to what is the meat of the album; an endless barrage of savage riffs, punctuated by numerous tempo changes and a direct drum attack. Above this onslaught of guitar, lies the extremely aggressive and harsh vocals which retains more of a rasp than an all out growl, but still sounds heavy enough to match the guitars and bring them out. The drum performance is varied and powerful, it locks in with the guitars to create immense heaviness and it may occasionally wander, adding variety and depth. Unfortunately there is very little presence of bass guitar which may leave the guitars sounds fairly thin at times, but thankfully this does not alter the fantastic songwriting present which is the strongest point of the album. While the lyrics may be poor at times and the production sounds weak nothing can stop the ever pressing speed and thunder present in the whiplash inducing compositions, the riffs in Apocalyptic Warriors, Eternal Hate and The Day Of Massacra are especially strong and are examples of technical playing executed in an almost flawless manner. Melodies are present and are a strong point and again, written proficiently.
While this is not a very influential or experimental release, and it may not have many memorable or stand out moments, its quality is impossible to deny as a well executed death metal album that is still able to stand among other greats within the genre.
