1. hol·o·caust [hol-uh-kawst, hoh-luh-]“a great or complete devastation or destruction, especially by fire.”

— Immortal’s Abbath Doom Occulta would disagree with this definition, especially the “fire” bit. His definition of “holocaust” is 100 years of winter followed by 100 years of brutal rule by the autocratic dictators of the frost-bitten kingdom of Blashyrkh.

2. tox·ic [tok-sik]

“of, pertaining to, affected with, or caused by a toxin or poison: a toxic condition.”

— Immortal’s Abbath Doom Occulta has very little to say about the word, “toxic”. Is it a waltz? In some countries and in some geographic parts of countries, yes. He really had no further comment upon hearing the word, “toxic”.

But Joel Grind, the blond dude with thrashy ambitions, knows exactly what “toxic” and “holocaust” mean. Separately. And together. When combined they form “toxic holocaust”, or rather properly noun-ed Toxic Holocaust, the vehicle with which Mr. Grind uses to express himself.

With nearly three years between Mr. Grind’s lovingly received An Overdose of Death… effort and full-band opus Conjure and Command, Mr. Grind’s new music is a ray of light in dark, uninteresting times. It’s unbridled white heat, in fact. How do we know so much? We’ve heard Conjure and Command, and few releases this Rabbit Year can compete with its aggression, all-balls attitude, and blue collar work ethic. While Conjure and Command won’t burn up the Billboard airplay charts, we’re pretty sure it’ll rule our Year End…uh, chart.

To prove it, here’s the succinctly titled, “Bitch”.

Toxic Holocaust – Bitch by Decibel Magazine

** Toxic Holocaust’s Conjure and Command is out July 19th, 2011 on Relapse Records. Pre-order it here.