After the release of "Warhead", the band discovered a band in Florida named Iron Cross. This discovery would cause the Keystone IRON CROSS to change the band's name to HOLOCROSS. The idea for the name came from a bad joke a friend of the band would make about Easter candy. The band thought combining the words hollow and cross had sounded sinister. Thus the band would be dubbed HOLOCROSS. The violent grinding frenzy of HOLOCROSS was like the scraping of corrosion from the Rust Belt. With a reputation based on their controversial weapons-based stage shows on stages wrapped in barbwire and a go-for-the-throat approach, the group delivered ever-growing aggressive heavy metal fury that did not relent. Any trappings of Westcoast metal similarities quickly fell away as the speed and thrash would become ever-increasing more brutal. In 1987 HOLOCROSS began to record the band's second album, the first under the new name. They would once again record with Wilson at Micro Mix Studios. Around this time, HOLOCROSS would sign with New Renaissance Records for the release of their next album. But before a release was issued, the band would go into Pyramid Sound in Ithaca, New York and re-record the album with Alex Perialas at the helm. Perialas had a pedigree of working with bands such as BAD RELIGION and thrash metal titans such as ANTHRAX, TESTAMENT, OVERKILL and NUCLEAR ASSAULT. The re-recorded album would contain 9 out of the 10 songs previously recorded at Micro Mix Studios. A different song would be added for the updated recording of the album. In 1988 HOLOCROSS "Holocross" would be released on cassette and vinyl through New Renaissance Records. The release would receive minimal distribution and exposure. The sheer intensity and speed-crazed mayhem at 33? RPM clearly made the statement that the party was over and it was now time for war. Any reservations and hesitation the band may have had were no more, HOLOCROSS were unleashed. One reviewer said, "This isn't an album that immediately lends itself to classic status, primarily because it's so damned intense that it simply leaves a vague impression, right on the listener's skull." The same review would go on to say, "People tend to remember albums like "South Of Heaven" and "Coma Of Souls" better because they offer a variety of different ways to ruin the spinal column, whereas this is just a straight shot of pure adrenaline that tends to fade away once the music stops." The suggestion of the album being intense and like a "straight shot of adrenaline" was a dead-on description. However, the years to follow the album's release would prove that "Holocross" obviously did make some sort of an impression seeing that the album would become a classic.
