Atrocity
Todessehnsucht

Strange creatures these Atrocity, a German combo active since the late eighties (if I remember correctly the only demo "Instigators" dates back to 1988, while the first real release on a record label, Nuclear Blast of course, dates back to 1989 with the Ep titled "Blue Blood"), presenting a particularly "serious" start to their career, rather elaborate and varied death metal (some might even claim that we are dealing with a sort of tech-death, obviously not comparable to Atheist or Cynic but not too distant from Death's "Human"), publishing, and it seems to me the first case in extreme metal, no less than 3 concept albums, one for each album from 1990 to 1994: "Hallucination" ('90), stories and daily horrors of a drug-addicted girl, "Todessehnsucht" ('92), Teutonic-themed spleen, and "Blut" ('94), centered on the significance of blood and vampirism in general.

After all this, the turning point that made the group lose a lot of following and also a certain trust in the sincerity of their proposal: collaborations with well-known and appreciated names in the Ebm/electro dark realm (Das Ich above all), resurrections of '80s pop hits (not bad), a series of albums where the right inspiration got lost behind rather questionable choices.

The full-length under examination today is the already mentioned "Todessehnsucht", which without a doubt, given the historical period in which it was produced, represents the highest artistic expression of the Teutonic act. As previously mentioned, the lyrics are based on a concept a bit challenging to translate (in fact some editions feature the title "Longing for death", which is nothing but an approximate attempt to translate "Todessehnsucht"): in the German language, sehnsucht is a key word that embodies a concept typical of Romantic culture not translatable into Italian. In essence, it indicates a yearning for something unattainable, a sensation halfway between nostalgia and desire (in this case for death, "Tod" indeed), concepts that singer and mastermind Alex Krull manages to somehow bring back, especially in songs like "Godless Years", "Sky Turned Red", and "A Prison Called Earth".

Regarding the instrumental side, well, we are facing one of the highest expressions of old-style European death metal: remarkable technical preparation, pursuit of original arrangements, an abundant dose of madness/fury, and even Wagnerian echoes as in the introductory title track, in the overture of the B-side of the vinyl, aptly titled "Introduction", and more generally scattered in small but significant doses throughout the entire work.

The changes in riff/tempo are the order of the day in songs like, for example, "Necropolis" or the already-mentioned "Sky Turned Red", while the fury and violence of breathtaking accelerations (blast beats and so on) make songs like "Unspoken names" or "Triumph At dawn" (which somewhat recalls Morbid Angel in their prime) real bone-crushers. It should also be noted that they have always paid a certain tribute to their admiration for Death, the lamented (never too much) Chuck Schuldiner, so much so that as a bonus track of the album there is a fiery and revisited version of "Archangel", a cover of an ancient piece by the Floridians.

The only weak points, in my opinion, are the production, very mid-ranged, which tends to muddle the guitar sounds a bit, although it remains acceptable for the rhythm components (drums and bass), and the voice: Alex Krull's guttural growl never too extreme has never particularly thrilled me, ultimately resulting quite monotonous, unable to properly underscore the otherwise interesting lyrics.

Nonetheless, a full-length that in my opinion is quite valuable and deserves to be rediscovered.