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, 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, 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, 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.
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Famous quotes containing the word success:
“Failure makes us envious. Success makes us greedy.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)