Soul Vomit are back with a vengeance. Fueled by the current state of affairs in this god-forsaken country of ours, “New World Holocaust” is an anthem of hate, rebellion and anger. This song is unlike any Soul Vomit song I have ever heard. The Soul Vomit of the past played a style of metal best described as melodic death metal, driven by Lee Erik’s kickass riff work. The ‘new’ Soul Vomit (with Lee Erik on vocals/guitars and Aneeq Zaman on drums/bass) is a no holds barred thrash metal band, but is still as riff driven as before (perhaps even more than before.) You can still hear some melodic death metal-ish riffs in this song, but apart from that, this is straight up, in-your-fucking-face thrash metal. The production is very raw, with the guitar tone lacking the distinct distorted sharpness that was a key feature in Soul Vomit’s old work. The drum programming is excellent, and I can’t find anything to complain about.
The song itself is Soul Vomit’s best yet, and I am NOT kidding around. This song rips apart classic Soul Vomit numbers like “Breath Your Last” with ease and also manages to raise the bar for thrash metal in Pakistan. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact influences in this song, but the most clear ones here are the obvious – Megadeth, Metallica and Testament. The break in the middle actually brings Metallica’s Master of Puppets to mind and the unique thrash riffage here is a firm nod to the riffage in Testament’s classic thrash album, The New Order. For some strange reason, the vocal patterns reminded me of Dave Mustaine, even though I cannot find any similarity between Lee Erik and Dave Mustaine. The guitar solo is fucking awesome and will no doubt bring Iron Maiden to mind, with the strangely nostalgic feel of the solo. To cut a long story short, this is fucking awesome and I bet the fans would go wild if Soul Vomit play this song live.
Soul Vomit have dropped a nuclear bomb on the Pakistani metal scene with this song. Raise your fists in the air, fellow Pakistanis. It’s time for a fucking holocaust!
