Hey there stranger! Did you miss us? You’re probably wondering where we went the past two weeks. While I’d love to tell you I was on some soul searching journey through the Himalayas and have since returned a new man, that would be as far from the truth as possible. In reality, yours truly was down with the count with a ruthless virus, and unlike all the other metal webzines that are (smartly) ran by a group of contributors, this one here is a one man show. While I can’t promise you an episode like this will never happen again (life is unpredictable like that), I can promise you a barrage of content this week, including two weeks worth of album reviews, starting with this one…
Atrophy are one of those second (or perhaps even third) wave thrash curios who’d make you believe the genre had a fighting chance come the late ’80s. Despite the ongoing commercialization of the genre and the death metal explosion that was just beginning, this Arizona based outfit thrashed and bashed like their lives depended on it, and did a pretty damn solid job of doing so. Both Socialized Hate (1988) and Violent by Nature (1990) are all killer, no filler outings, complete with all the breakneck speed, mosh riffs, and political lyrics one could ask for from a latter day thrash album.
Like nearly every underground metal act of their era, Atrophy would eventually split come the ’90s and lie dormant for 20+ years, only to reunite for America’s definitive annual metal gathering, Maryland Deathfest. The show went off without a hitch, leading to more headline dates, including one in my hometown of Chicago at the infamous Reggies. I can’t remember exactly what year it was (sometime between 2016 and 2018), but I do recall it being a grand ol’ thrashing time, the crowd of young raging thrashers (back when Chicago HAD a young raging thrash scene) losing their hyperactive minds to the likes of “Chemical Dependency”, “Violent by Nature”, and “Beer Bong”.
But alas, nothing lasts forever. Come 2020, the pandemic arrived and took Atrophy with them…kind of. Singer Brian Zimmerman left, which lead the band to hire a new singer and continue under the moniker Scars of Atrophy. Zimmerman, on the other hand, hired a new band, which he’s since branded Atrophy. See where this is coming from? For full context, the Atrophy in review here is Zimmerman and his new band, NOT Scars of Atrophy. *sigh* File this one alongside L.A. Guns and Queensrÿche, am I right? *crickets*
Semantics aside, this is the first album bearing the Atrophy moniker in 34 years, and that’s a long time: So long that one could be driven to the point of insanity, hence the appropriate title, Asylum. The question remains: Was it worth the wait? Well that depends on how you look at it. On the surface, Asylum is a straightforward, no holds barred thrash album. At its most musically adventurous, there are camo-short clad groove-thrash outbursts reminiscent of Lamb of God on cuts like “Distortion”, “Close My Eyes”, and “Five Minutes ‘Til Suicide”, yet even these don’t stray too far from the classic thrash ethos.
From a musical standpoint, the band sounds fantastic. Perhaps it’s with age, but Zimmerman sounds more vitriolic on this album then he did even 35 years ago, and the rest of the band backs it up, playing with full throttle intensity from beginning to end. The formula becomes more than apparent on the opening “Punishment for All”, complete with its violent riffage, shouted vocals, and lunacy inducing guitar solos. Its an approach that’s executed well on “High Anxiety” and “American Dream” too, the latter being the one song on here that lies closest to classic Atrophy both musically and lyrically.
Unfortunately, where Asylum loses me is with its generic modern production and repetitive songwriting. I’m more than aware that it’s hard to be innovative in thrash these days, especially for a veteran band. However, at a certain point on this album, one song blurs into the next, each drop D riff sounding less distinguishable than the other. There’s also the fact that, sonically speaking, Asylum doesn’t sound like Atrophy, or at least what Atrophy sounded like in their glory days. If anything, it’s closer to post-reunion Testament or Warbringer, which isn’t a bad thing, but also doesn’t help considering the sea of modern thrash bands who sound like, well, post-reunion Testament and Warbringer.
While Asylum isn’t as downright dismal as the recent outings of Exodus, Destruction, and other thrash kings whose crowns have since lost their luster, it is rather unfulfilling and leaves me longing for the savagery of the olden days that I wasn’t even alive for. Chances are most of you reading this weren’t either. If you were, feel free to drop a comment about what an idiot kid I am down below. I missed posting on here and could use my ego being knocked down a peg or two after such a long absence.
5 out of 10
Label: Massacre Records
Genre: Thrash Metal
For fans of: Testament, Exodus, Vio-Lence