Rahowa
Cult Of The Holy War
[Resistance]
Ok, before anyone gets their knickers in a knot, let me
state one thing : Rahowa play whats refered to these
days as "hate rock", so if you're the least bit
sensative about political and racial views, stop reading
this review now as you're going to dismiss this band
out-of-hand anyway...
There, now that we have that out of the way, lets get on to the CD itself. "Cult Of The Holy War" is the 2nd release from the now defunct Rahowa (which as you probably already know, stands for "Racial Holy War"), and it's a far cry from their early "hate rock" days of the first CD, "Declaration Of War". Whereas the first album was a harsh blend of metal, hardcore and a handful of other influences, COTHW is best described as epic gothic tinged power metal. The most obvious reference point would be early Type O Negative (especially the vocals), but I personally think that Rahowa far excel at the style and are a HELL of a lot better at this genre than TON (who I've never really cared for). Lyrically, COTHW is a far much mature offering than DOW - gone are the OTT racial slurs and "hateful" right wing dogma, and in it's place is a reflective look at the state of disarray the modern world has fallen into...the song writing is also miles ahead of what it used to be - simplistic 3 chord bashing has been replaced with epic, mournful passages and powerful metallic progressions. The general tempo of the songs on COTHW tend to be mid-paced or slower, but there are a few spots in which the speed factor gets kicked up. The production on this is also quite impressive when you consider how limited the bands resources were - everything is full bodied (especially the "crunch" on the distorted guitar passages), and nothing becomes overbearing (although I'm sure a lot of people might take issue with the use of synth and the Peter Steel-esque vocals).
Love or hate their beliefs, one can't deny the fact that Rahowa write some truly inspired music. Just one listen to tracks such as "Man Against Time", "In The Fires of 1945", "RAHOWA", or my personal favorite track, "Ode To A Dying People", and the power of Rahowa become self evident. Highly recommended, although I'm sure this isn't the easiest CD to find. Those in Europe might try ordering from Nordland, and Americans might be able to grab this from Panzerfaust, but I'm not sure if this CD is still in print after all the problems Resistance Records went through in the last couple of years...
© 1999 chorazaim
There, now that we have that out of the way, lets get on to the CD itself. "Cult Of The Holy War" is the 2nd release from the now defunct Rahowa (which as you probably already know, stands for "Racial Holy War"), and it's a far cry from their early "hate rock" days of the first CD, "Declaration Of War". Whereas the first album was a harsh blend of metal, hardcore and a handful of other influences, COTHW is best described as epic gothic tinged power metal. The most obvious reference point would be early Type O Negative (especially the vocals), but I personally think that Rahowa far excel at the style and are a HELL of a lot better at this genre than TON (who I've never really cared for). Lyrically, COTHW is a far much mature offering than DOW - gone are the OTT racial slurs and "hateful" right wing dogma, and in it's place is a reflective look at the state of disarray the modern world has fallen into...the song writing is also miles ahead of what it used to be - simplistic 3 chord bashing has been replaced with epic, mournful passages and powerful metallic progressions. The general tempo of the songs on COTHW tend to be mid-paced or slower, but there are a few spots in which the speed factor gets kicked up. The production on this is also quite impressive when you consider how limited the bands resources were - everything is full bodied (especially the "crunch" on the distorted guitar passages), and nothing becomes overbearing (although I'm sure a lot of people might take issue with the use of synth and the Peter Steel-esque vocals).
Love or hate their beliefs, one can't deny the fact that Rahowa write some truly inspired music. Just one listen to tracks such as "Man Against Time", "In The Fires of 1945", "RAHOWA", or my personal favorite track, "Ode To A Dying People", and the power of Rahowa become self evident. Highly recommended, although I'm sure this isn't the easiest CD to find. Those in Europe might try ordering from Nordland, and Americans might be able to grab this from Panzerfaust, but I'm not sure if this CD is still in print after all the problems Resistance Records went through in the last couple of years...
© 1999 chorazaim