UK’s Cult Heavy/Thrash band Holosade’s debut “Hellhouse” from 1988 re-issue on vinyl!

It’s more than fair and reasonable to appoint United Kingdom as birthplace of classic heavy metal “beasts”, as well as of N.W.O.B.H.M. music revolution. Once in a while we should honor UK’s underground bands too. Bring on “Hellhouse” by Holosade to re-issue.

Holosade was formed back in 1985 in Darlington, County Durham, North England. In charge of the bad is singer Philip de Sade, the mastermind till nowadays. Until the release of “Hellhouse”, the band had 4 demos, a split EP, as well as their participation in the collection “The Metal Collection Vol. I”, on Ebony Records, in 1986. The fundamental “Demo 1987” defines the path for “Hellhouse” that follows, with songs such as “Psycho” and “Eternal Life”. It was the split though that helped the band get a record deal. Selling up to 2,000 copies instantly caught the attention of Powerstation and FM/Revolver.

The original idea was to release a six track mini LP, but they had already completed 8, thus it was difficult to set a side 2 songs... The company encouraged them to proceed with a full-length release. “Hellhouse” was finally released as a full length (including all 8 tracks) and is a very different record for a British one.

Musically one could say that they sound a bit more American than British, they are closer to the Anthrax in a way. Of course, there are plenty of melodic elements, given in a more street way. Besides their sound, “Hellhouse” is a true/cult diamond. We’ve got eight fantastic Heavy/Thrash Metal compositions of such greatness, with “Madame Guillotine” and “Psycho” being the album’s trademark. The lyrics are inspired by horror books and movies, and the artwork reflects also this as well.

The album was followed by a tour with Acid Reign. Unfortunately, “Hellhouse” was to be, the first and last album of the band for a very long time. It was an excellent sample of Heavy/Thrash Metal back at the times from a band with European melodic lines and American roughness.

In 1994 they released another demo, and the band finally released another full length in 2021, after almost 33 years! We are anticipating for more new music but no matter what is to come, “Hellhouse” will always be remembered as a reference point of British Heavy/Thrash Metal underground.

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Tracklisting:

Look Into the Mirror
Welcome to Hellhouse
Love It to Death
Madame Guillotine
Psycho
Bitter Sweet
Eternal Life
Nightmare Reality