Atrox
Orgasm

I absolutely need your attention!

It has been a few days now that this little disc has been tormenting my ears and tickling my taste buds, as if I were tasting a truly exquisite and delicious dish. For some, it might be hard to digest given the content of the little record exhibited here, but I’m sure many of you will understand the goodness of this band’s musical offering… and maybe (why not?) will approach the listening with trust.

I was talking about ears… well, lately mine have been keenly searching for something out of the ordinary within an ever-narrowing context as is that of heavy music (yes, that phrase sounds so heard before, but in the end, it's not too bad).

Atrox is a Norwegian band with several full-lengths under their belt, of which this "Orgasm" remains to date the latest and most recent chapter. What intrigued me when I came to know the mentioned group was the designation they gave themselves based on the genre of their offering… “Schizo-metallers”… Original, you find? Well, suffice it to say that the originality contained in this definition is perfectly found in their music… in the meantime, Monika’s voice (the singer… I see you are talkative) is truly sensual, sweet, and not at all linear (after all, she is a schizo-metaller!), so given the almost indisputable equation: metal band + female voice = gothic metal band… I can assure you that here everything can be discussed regarding this album, except that it is boring gothic metal! (and thankfully, considering there are tons of bands within this vein without trying to offer anything new or personal).

Sorry, I got a bit lost… anyway to frame the band, suffice it to know that they resemble in many instrumental parts the structural complexity of riffs in “Destroy Erase Improve” in the rhythmic parts, certain prog and fusion refinements of the best vintage techno death bands and a voice that instead of the growl, characteristic of the aforementioned bands, responds to the angular rhythmic counterpoints with appropriate and highly emotional melodies and full of lyrical pathos. Often the tone of the singer's register is modified and skillfully modulated based on the almost hasty and acrobatic changes other musicians confer to the proposed track, so her vocal cords allow her to emit simultaneously screams and shrieks with very high tonal elevation, allowing the vocal parts to have something of “Schizo” as, even comparing them to Meshuggah, it is natural to find in the instrumental parts played by the musicians.

The album titles that impressed me most for compositional verve, for the care of sounds and sense of melody are the opening track “Methods Of Survivor” (great credit to the really heavy rhythm section, which breaks and recomposes the puzzle of thrash metal riffs played at breakneck speed, as in the best Meshuggah tradition), the more relaxed “Heartquake” (truly stunning for melodies and instrumental uniqueness with crystalline sounds tending towards the pastel blue of the sea), and the two pieces I consider the best “This Vigil” and “Second Hand Traumas” which in my opinion are the highest musical peaks reached by Atrox in this wonderful album of theirs, perfect fusion between instrumental technique and elevated vocal poetry, I would say… it remains to clarify in any case whether it’s the poetry that serves the technique or vice versa, in any case, it hardly matters! The results during listening are clear and evident to all ears and can only conquer and enchant even the most seasoned listener used to certain kinds of sounds…

Great Atrox and great Code 666, an excellent local label that signed them, this band is really exciting me during playback, and soon I will try to also retrieve their second last chapter “Terrestrial” which, according to reliable sources, is another extraordinary work… I can end by saying, without a doubt, that this is a band with enormous potential and “Orgasm” an album that you will hardly be able (or have the courage) to remove from your stereo speakers unless you constantly seek songs that last three/four minutes at most, with the classic and overused verse-chorus-verse formula… in this case, I'm really sorry, but there is nothing here for you…