‘History of Terror’ Box Set
Metal Blade Records

- Review By Shane

I remember the first time I heard Hallows Eve. It was 1987 and by way of a rented VHS copy of the film Rivers Edge, the track ‘Lethal Tendencies’ was playing when Samson was heading to the store to get some beer after he killed his “girlfriend”. At that time (I was about 14 years old) the song floored me with its catchy, anthem like quality, crossed with a simple, chugging thrash riff and brutal (for the time, it was the mid 80s!) hollow, guttural, menacing vocals. I purchased the soundtrack (a cassette via Columbia House music club), which also featured Slayer, Fates Warning, Agent Orange, etc. Soon after that I fell headfirst into the thrash scene and somehow or another never ran across and/or purchased any Hallows Eve albums, even though the song ‘lethal tendencies’ remained a favorite through the years. In the early nineties I finally tracked down and purchased all three Hallows Eve albums, ‘Tales of Terror’ (1985), ‘Death and Insanity’(1986), and ‘Monument’(1988). I quickly realized that ‘Lethal Tendencies’ wasn’t really an accurate example of the bands overall sound. They were thrash, but a more speed metal/power metal style was evident overall with more midrange in the vocals. All three albums I enjoyed and still do to this day. For the day, they played fast and hard, had dark lyrics, and were very underrated in my opinion, there were VERY few bands doing what they were doing in 1985.

Hallows Eve formed in the early 80’s in Atlanta. The core members were Tommy Stewart (bass), Stacy Anderson (vocals), David Stuart (guitar), and Tym Helton (drums).

Brian Slagel signed them to his label, Metal Blade, in 1985. They toured for all three albums and eventually faded in the late 80’s, although they are still together to this day (more on that later). When Metal Blade announced awhile back they would be releasing a retrospective Hallows Eve boxset containing all three albums as well as a DVD of vintage live performances as well as demo and other rare material I knew immediately I had to have this set.

So here it is, and it is quite a nice package full of classic thrash nostalgia and well worth the price. Hell, its only a few dollars more than one CD nowadays…around twenty bucks. What you get over the course of three CD’s and one DVD is remastered versions of all three studio albums the band released, early demo tracks, very early rehearsals, classic live tracks, and the crown jewel of this set, 45 live tracks on DVD from 4 different sets filmed from 1986 to 1988. The three albums sound great to this day, full of dark, horror inspired thrash/speed metal tunes. The bands last album ‘monument’ is a bit of a departure with more introspective lyrics and a more polished sound but still full on thrash. Of course, the demo and rehearsal tracks are of raw sound quality but I wouldn’t want it any other way, this is classic, raw heavy metal and should be recognized as such! The live sets on DVD include shows from Poughkeepsee New York in 1988, Middletown New York in 1986, York PA in 1986, and Brooklyn New York, also in 1986. This 45 track DVD is worth the price of admission alone. The Brooklyn set is filmed from the back of the crowd but you can see and hear everything OK (they opened for ANTHRAX that night). The set from Middletown is filmed from the stage, the cameraman is literally standing next to guitarist David Stuart! The latest set on the DVD is from a show when the band was touring for ‘monument’ in 1988 and is also killer thrash nostalgia. The best set though is the 12/18/86 show from ‘swizzles’ in York, PA. It is filmed from the crowd about ten feet or so from the center of the stage. You get a full perspective of what a thrash show was like back then. You see clear, up close views of the band attacking their instruments, the crowd up front banging away, and a rather clear audio track considering the source (twenty year old VHS). Mandatory viewing for any Metalhead. It was a magic time back then and this captures it brilliantly. I felt like I was 15 againg watching this! This boxset is is housed in two jewel cases and contains the complete lyrics to all three albums, liner notes from the band members, and classic photos of the band as well as pics of show flyers, promotional photos, etc. You really can’t go wrong with ‘history of terror’….hours of classic metal memories await you! Oh yeah, Hallows Eve is still together and releasing new material! Check out Hollows Eve’s My Space for further information.

Read all of Shane’s Music Reviews in our Music section.