Holy Mother

Long Island, New York's Holy Mother was founded in 1993 by former Burning Starr singer/guitarist Mike Tirelli, who, alongside guitarist Spike Francis, bassist Randy Coven, and drummer Jim Harris, seemed intent on reviving the specter of '80s metal on their eponymous 1995 debut. But then, the group took an unexpected turn toward industrial music with the following year's Tabloid Crush, actually changing their name to N.O.W. (Not Our World) for its release, only to revert to Holy Mother and their original, classic metal direction before 1998's Toxic Rain -- odd. Anyway, this album, along with 1999's Criminal Afterlife featured new guitarists Rich Naso and Jim Bivano, the last of which remained with the group throughout subsequent, power metal-leaning efforts like 2000's My World War and 2003's Agoraphobia. Tirelli would join fellow N.Y. metal veterans Riot in 2005, but don't count against Holy Mother's return to recording at some point in time. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia