HOLY MOSES
HOLY MOSES “End of Days”
By Dr. Abner Mality
The journey is almost over for HOLY MOSES now and what a long, strange trip it’s been. The origins of this German band go back to 1980...a year when The Good Doctor was still in high school. Considering I am now a spry 60 years old, that gives you some perspective. Right from the start, this band was different...heavier, angrier, faster, with a roaring banshee named Sabina Classen on lead vocals. In a period when female hard rock and metal singers were mostly sexy models with pleasing voices, she was something few were ready for.
The band has had many ups and downs over the years, but have always kept Sabina as their vocalist and they’ve stuck to their rough and innovative sound for the most part. Now Sabina is ready to bow out and without her, HOLY MOSES will be no more. This year, they’ve released a face-smashing album “Invisible Queen” that’s one of their most aggressive and they’re getting ready for their final live shows. They will not go gently into that good night, that’s for sure…
Guitarist Pete Geltat has been in the band since 2012 and he was kind enough to fill me in on HOLY MOSES’ momentous final year. Take it away...
WORMWOOD CHRONICLES: Greetings to HOLY MOSES, it is an honor to speak to one of the great German thrash bands. “Invisible Queen” marks what seems to be the final chapter of the band. How did you arrive at this decision? It had to have been a very, very difficult choice.
PETE GELTAT: The decision came from Sabina and she was talking about that for some time. She wanted to end on her own terms, rather than becoming “embarrassing” (her own word) or just slowly fading into non-existence. We did like the idea to go out with a bang, so to say. Release a final album and play a bunch of shows, so we can celebrate our farewell with the fans.
WC: When the songs for “Invisible Queen” were written, was it already known at that time that this would be the end? I would imagine the fact that this was the last album added extra power and urgency to the songs.
PG: Yes, we knew that it would be the last album, but honestly I don’t think it really changed our approach. We were gonna give our best no matter if it was just the next album or the last album.
SABINA CLASSEN
WC: What would you say the lasting legacy of the band is? It started in 1980 when I was still in high school and I am now 60 years old...it’s amazing to look back on such a career!
PG: Yes, HOLY MOSES has quite a long career and history. Me and Thomas were born in 1981, when Sabina joined the band and she is turning 60 this year. I think or hope the legacy HOLY MOSES leaves behind is that they always did their own thing. Back then they were innovators...not only did they have the first woman with extreme vocals, they were also on the forefront of progressive thrash. They experimented with odd meters, dissonant harmonies and unusual song structures. They always did their own thing. They paved the way for a lot of bands and for example MESHUGGAH mention HOLY MOSES as one of their early influences. We as the “new” members (even if it’s more than ten years) hope that we were able to continue the tradition of doing our own thing, and we were able to bring the progressive elements into 2023 Thrash Metal.
WC: Outside of the new album, what would you say was the best album of HOLY MOSES? Or the most underrated?
PG: I would say the best album is “The New Machine Of Liechtenstein” and the most underrated maybe “Redefined Mayhem”.
WC: I remember reading reviews in the old paper zines of early albums like “Queen of Siam” and “New Machine of Lichtenstein” and it seemed like many metalheads of the time had a hard time understanding what the band was about. How far ahead of their time were those albums?
PG: Well on the one hand they were ahead of their time with the progressive aspects, odd meters and unusual harmonies, yet at least “Finished With The Dogs” also has kind of a 70s punk attitude and rawness to it. “Queen Of Siam” actually has imo a bit of a black metal vibe, way ahead of its time.
WC: Sabina has been the one constant in the career of HOLY MOSES. She has had an incredible life and her vocals were also far ahead of their time. What has it been like collaborating with her?
PG: Sabina is a cool person, very friendly, open and fair. She is very down to earth and lets us do our thing. We all work together as equals and make decisions together as a band.
WC: She redefined the female vocalist in metal with her aggressive style. Do you think that now she will get the credit she is due?
PG: That would be nice and she would deserve it. I do think that we get more recognition these days. Yet we are still far from mainstream and I don’t think that too many people will know how important her role was. She never cared about that anyway. She was just doing something without caring if anybody else did the same thing. She was just being herself.
WC: Looking at “Invisible Queen”, the lyrics seem to be very dystopian and relate to the dark future ahead of us with songs like “Cult of the Machine”, “The New Norm”, “Depersonalized”. Is it a concept album or is there just more of a general theme running through the album?
PG: It’s not a concept album. I guess it was just the mood of that time. We wrote the lyrics during pandemic lockdowns and a lot of shit was going on worldwide. My parts were highly influenced by that time and how people behaved. Some crazy conspiracy theories came up and people were getting super aggressive. In the US people stormed the White House and tried to take over the government, based on hate mongering and lies. So quite an end of the world / end of human civilization mood prevails throughout a lot of the songs.
WC: Is there any hope for the future of man in the lyrics of HOLY MOSES or have we already lost our chance?
PG: I guess for humanity in general, as a civilization it doesn’t look too good in the lyrics. But on a single person level there is hope. In the song “Order Out Of Chaos” which is about depression and suicide I wrote the line “there’s end in sight, so hang in there”. I would like to encourage everyone with depressive, dark and suicidal thoughts to seek professional help. You are worth it!
PETE GELTAT
WC: The band to me has always had a kind of “mechanical” or semi-industrial feel to some of its riffing. A lot of what bands like FEAR FACTORY or MESHUGGAH do was foreseen by HOLY MOSES. Do you agree? Have you drawn influence from industrial type bands?
PG I don’t know about FEAR FACTORY and honestly never connected their riffing to HOLY MOSES, but MESHUGGAH actually stated that they were influenced by HOLY MOSES. On their first record and maybe a bit on “Destroy, Erase, Improve” you can hear some influences. We met Jens Kidman some years back at a show in Sweden and kept in contact since then. They invited us to open for them at a show in Germany, which was an absolute highlight in my personal career. On our Bonus CD Jens Kidman is actually doing guest vocals, which yet again is a personal highlight, because I’m a MESHUGGAH fan.
WC: What would you say is an influence on the band that is maybe not obvious to listeners?
PG: Hm, not sure if that’s obvious or not, but I am definitely influenced by 90s Death Metal, but also by modern Tech Death and I did and do listen to NEVERMORE a lot. I also sneak in some jazzy elements into my solos here and there.
WC: How did you guys come to meet Sabina and join HOLY MOSES? Were you involved in any bands prior to H.M.?
PG: I got into the band through Thomas (Netsch, bass player—Dr. M), who I've been friends with since we were 16 or so. Thomas and I played in a Thrash Metal Band called “DESILENCE” for some time, but I left the band when I went abroad for a year to study guitar in Sweden. Thomas joined HOLY MOSES in 2008 and in 2011 he called me and asked if I would like to contribute some solos for the 30 year “best of” record. Half a year later or so, they needed a guitar player and asked me if I would like to join. As you might have guessed, I said yes, haha.
WC: Is there any plan for one final great concert for the band, a farewell show?
PG: Yes there is. We will have a final show on December 27th in Hamburg. It’s also Sabina’s 60th birthday, so it’ll be quite a celebration!
WC: In a similar vein, is there any chance you will play a show in North America? Has the band ever made it over here?
PG: Sadly it doesn’t look too good for North America. The closest we ever played there since I’m in the band would be the 70.000 Tons of Metal Cruise. I don’t think HOLY MOSES ever played in the US or Canada. We will play in Mexico in December, that might be the closest it will get.
WC: If you could have dinner with any three people from history, who would they be?
PG: Chuck Schuldiner, because he is one of my favorite guitar players. I met once for a moment after a concert and he seemed super friendly and cool. Bach, because he was a musical genius and is my favorite classical composer. Then maybe some ancient Sumerian King or an Egyptian Pharaoh to tell me about how it really was back then.
WC: In the long history of HOLY MOSES, is there any “Spinal Tap” moment where things went crazy that you could share with the fans?
PG: Judging from what Sabina tells, I or we missed the craziest times. I guess this one gig we played in Finland is worth mentioning. We started the show sober, as we usually do, but our friends from TANKARD, who played right after us, came and brought us drinks the whole time, so by the end of the show we were rather intoxicated and then apparently later danced on stage when TANKARD were playing.
WC: Any final messages for the HOLY MOSES faithful?
PG:: Thank you for all the support over the years and for liking the new album (at least it seems like a lot of people are enjoying it). We hope to see you at our concerts and celebrate our farewell together.
