History & Biography Edinburgh, Scotland's Holocaust first gained notoriety when its manager was rumoured to be mailing recordings of signed NWOBHM bands to record companies - and still receive negative reactions - or falsely claiming to have coveted opening slots. The band was formed by Mortimer in 1978 as Buzzard and immediately began to go through a head spinning array of line-up changes. The first official release was a 1980 single called Heavy Metal Mania. Phoenix was a local store/record company.
The band split up in 1982 only to return in 1984. Mortimer then set up his own Taurus Moon label. The band again split up in the early ‘90s, but soon returned as a trio and even played at the Wacken festival in 1993. The Courage To Be featured a new guitarist called John McCullim. A whole new line-up was booked for Metal Meltdown III in 2001. The band's discography was up for re-release through Sanctuary Music in 2004.
Metal Nation Records issued Holocaust's debut LP The Nightcomers from 1980 on CD with nine bonus tracks added from the band's three 12" singles in 2017, which were out between 1980-1982. The Nightcomers featured the band’s original Scottish line-up and was the first release by Edinburgh based Phoenix Records, an independent Record shop-turned-record label where vocalist Gary Lettice worked. No Remorse Records issued a compilation of the band’s early work in 2019. It was called Heavy Metal Mania - The Singles. Heavy Metal Mania - The Complete Recordings Vol.1 1980-1984 was another compilation this time in 2023. In the meantime, guitarist Gordon "Gogs" Anthoney came and went. Former Serpico guitarist Steven Patterson joined in 2025.
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