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Biography
About|the German thrash metal band |the rocket with the nickname Holy Moses |High velocity aircraft rocketInfobox musical artist | name = Holy Moses| image = Holy Moses live 2009.jpg| caption = Holy Moses live in 2009| landscape = yes| background = group_or_band| alias =| origin = Aachen , Germany | genre = Thrash metal | years_active = 1980& ndash;1994 2000& ndash;present| label = Armageddon Music Aaarrg West Virginia Records WEA Records Steamhammer Records|Steamhammer Century Media Records | associated_acts =| website =| current_members = Sabina Classen Michael Hankel Oliver Jaath (musician)|Oliver Jaath Atomic Steiff (musician)|Atomic Steiff Thomas Neitsch | past_members =| notable_instruments = Holy Moses is a Germany|German thrash metal band. They are well noted for being fronted by Sabina Classen (it is rare for a woman to be a singer in thrash metal) and for being one of the very first German thrash metal bands.
Formative years (1980-1985)
Holy Moses were formed in Aachen , North Rhine-Westphalia , on 1980.cite web |url= http://allmusic.com/artist/holy-moses-p555197/biography |title=Holy Moses |work= allmusic |publisher=Rovi Corporation The band's first line-up was formed by bassist Ramon Brüssler, drummer Peter Vonderstein and guitarist Jochen Fünders during high school, the latter of whom also handled the band's vocals. This line-up played its first live show only four days after its formation, and released a demo titled Black Metal Masters in the same year. Vonderstein and Fünders left the group in 1981, and were replaced by drummer Paul Linzenich, vocalist Iggy, and guitarist Andy Classen from the local group Desaster. In December 1981, Iggy left the group and was replaced by ex-Desaster bassist and girlfriend of Andy, Sabina Classen (nee Hirtz). The band performed their first live show with the new stable line-up in November 1982 and released a string of demo tapes, including Walpurgis Night in 1985, and The Bitch in 1986, and also appeared on the split-album compilation Metallic Bunnys .
Success (1986-1992)
In 1986, Holy Moses released their debut album Queen of Siam through independent label Aaarrg, with Herbert Dreger on the drums (Linzenich left shortly before the recording to focus on his university studies). After the release of the record, Dreger was sacked for not showing up to a support show with Agent Steel , and Brüssler (the only original member of Holy Moses remaining), left the band. Both members were replaced by nineteen-year-old Uli Kusch and Andre Chapelier respectively. The following year, Holy Moses released their sophomore effort Finished With the Dogs , which was a much heavier and cleaner-sounding album than its predecessor. The album is a critical success around the world, earning the band a distribution deal through WEA (Warner) and tours of Europe with Angel Dust , Rage , Steeler , Paganini , D.R.I. and Holy Terror (band)|Holy Terror , finishing with a headlining show in Hamburg.
In 1988, Sabina Classen became the host of a German heavy metal TV show called Mosh alongside journalist Götz Kühnemund. Meanwhile, Holy Moses begins work on their third studio effort. Released in 1989, The New Machine of Liechtenstein is another successful record from the group, with the band playing more heavier and more technical thrash metal than the previous two albums. The band toured with Sacred Reich and Forbidden (band)|Forbidden , and performed at the Dynamo Open Air Festival, with second guitarist Reiner Laws added to the line-up. Around this time, Holy Moses severed their ties with WEA as a result of the record company's new staff trying to coerce the band into departing from their thrash metal influences and write more commercial music.
In 1990, Laws quits Holy Moses due to illness and retires to focus his skills as a graphic artist, leaving the band as a four-piece. The band then records World Chaos , released through West Virginia Records, an independent label owned by new band manager Uli Wiehagen. Kusch soon quits the band to join Gamma Ray (band)|Gamma Ray , to be replaced by Atomic Steif. This line-up would remain stable for the next two records, Terminal Terror (1991), and Reborn Dogs (1992).
Soon after the release of Reborn Dogs , Sabina Classen left Holy Moses and the band subsequently dissolved. Classen went to form Temple of the Absurd with Warpath members Schrödey and Ozzy Frese, and drummer Mike Rech.
Hiatus
Two years after the split of Holy Moses, Andy Classen releases a new record under the Holy Moses name titled ''No Matter What's the Cause''. The line-up featured on the album included Classen on guitar and vocals, Stormtroopers of Death|S.O.D. 's Dan Lilker on bass, and hardcore drummer Meff. The album was more hardcore/death metal influenced than the band's previous thrash-oriented efforts, and was not met with substantial success.
Reformation (2000-present)
In 1999, during touring for the second Temple of the Absurd album, Sabina Classen collapsed on stage and was hospitalised. The singer fell into a serious illness and suffered a motorcycle crash in 2000. Following this, Temple of the Absurd disband and Sabina begins to work with Andy again with what would eventually become new Holy Moses material. The band is reformed in early 2001 with Franky Brotz and Joern Schubert on guitar, Jochen Fuenders on bass and Julien Schmidt on the drums. The band performs several comeback shows throughout Europe and South Korea, and releases an EP titled Master of Disaster through Century Media . Andy Classen stayed with the band as songwriter.
In 2002, Holy Moses released Disorder of the Order , their first album with the new line-up. Michael Hankel, guitarist of Erosion and friend of Andy's, replaced Schubert soon after the album's release, and becomes a main songwriter of the band. The band performed at Wacken Open Air festival in 2004, and after fan demand for another Holy Moses album, the group released Strength Power Will Passion in May the following year. It is the first album without input from Andy Classen. After securing a deal through Wacken Records and a subsequent re-release of the band's material, Feunders and Schmidt leave Holy Moses to be replaced by Thomas Neitsch and a returning Atomic Steif.
The band recorded and released their tenth album Agony of Death in 2008.
http://www.holymoses.de/ Official Holy Moses website
myspace|holymosesgermany|Holy Moses
http://www.holymosesbloodbound.com/ Official Holy Moses network / fanclub
http://www.centurymedia.net/bands/HolyMoses.htm Holy Moses at Century Media Records|Century Media
Category:German thrash metal musical groups Category:Musical groups established in 1980 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1994 Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2000 Category:Musical quintets
