Thursday, January 23, 2025

Atrophy - Asylum (2024)

80s thrash metal reunions have reached the point of inevitability by now, and really over the last decade or so, but when some bands decide to give it another go, it feels like they haven't skipped a beat, where some others have attempted to modernize themselves in unflattering ways and evade the reason we heshers enjoyed them in the first place. Arizona's Atrophy, a really strong band across their first two efforts Socialized Hate and Violent by Nature, have fortunately fallen into the first of those categories, with a sound here that feels as if this album had dropped around 1992-93 as thrash declined, stubbornly loyal and aggressive to a fault. My first few spins of the record, I was impressed with the level of energy and strict adherence to their style, but the songs didn't stick out to me as much as their earlier material when I was a teenager.

That has changed in the intervening months, and it's grown on me to a degree, just because of the sheer tenacity of the material. There's not a lot separating this from the old days, largely mid-to-fast paced rhythm guitar-driven punishment with a Bay Area sound mirroring Testament and Forbidden, the one exception might be a little more of a melodic, dramatic vibe in some of the leads. Brian Zimmerman's crunchy, memorable delivery is still the central foundation upon which all this thrives, he's always had sort of a nastier, back alley Chuck Billy intonation and that has not changed, he delivers plenty of grit and his very presence keeps anything from becoming too sterile or polished. I'm also blown away that the rest of the band is all new, but they just nail the precision and playing of their predecessors. There was clearly every intention of making this as close to the source as possible, and they studied well. A few little glints of modernization can be noticed through the production, but everything from the guitar tones to the drumming style is reflective of where they left with the Roadracer discs. Hell, I think the cleaner vocal and acoustic at the very finale of "Close My Eyes" stood out all the more by it.

For me it works the best when you've got that little bit of reverb on Brian's voice, the delivery is so powerful especially when it's followed by some lead guitar that tears through the atmosphere. The lyrics are no-nonsense social and political rantings which were always at the core of the style, but not written in some reckless way, they champion the anti-establishment, anti-corporate, anti-war themes which are just as relevant today as four decades ago when punk and trad metal spawned this hybrid. It's all hammering, intense, and proficiently written, and really so consistent that it's difficult to pick out high or low points as there's such an even distribution over the 44 minutes. I will maintain that the choruses and riffs don't quite embed themselves into my brain as they once did, but as I listen through this it's engaging, entertaining and there are few flaws to point at. A solid reunion effort that gets back to what was important, and perhaps now that they've settled back into this they can come up with a blazing set of tunes to rival their early years. Well met, and welcome back.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]

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