Toxic Holocaust's sophomore effort, 2005's
Hell on Earth, picks up exactly where their debut from two years earlier (
Evil Never Dies) left off. Shouted vocals, crunchy riffs, and rapid-fire drumming are all displayed throughout once more -- all of the vintage ‘80s variety -- especially on such demonic ditties as "Metallic Crucifixion," "Send Them to Hell," "Thrashing Death," and the album-closing title track. In addition to the music, the group's admiration for first wave thrash is on display with the album cover art, which was handled by Ed Repka, whose work is quite familiar to many a metalhead (including grisly cover doodles for the likes of
Death,
Megadeth, and
Nuclear Assault over the years). Racing by at the speed of light (clocking in at 30 minutes in length from beginning to end),
Hell on Earth is one lean metallic machine. ~ Greg Prato