Album Review: Atka

Band: Atka

Album: Atka/Shimetsu Split

Genre: Grindcore, Tech-Death Influences

Year:  2009

Label: Ecocentric Records

Website: www.myspace.com/atkametal

Review: Yeah it is kind of wierd that I'm only reviewing one half of a split, but honestly when it comes to this kind of music, the half-a-split is a format as important as the full length itself. It's perfectly suited for Grind bands, who only need about ten or so minutes to say what they have to say, and who might not have the finances or reputation to manage to put out an entire full-length on their lonesome. And that's basically what you have happening hear, with Germany's Atka putting up a short album's worth of material in the same amount of time it'll take you to shave ( your face not your genitals). During that brief period they manage to pull-off what I would consider a minor miracle: grindcore with a metalcore influence that doesn't suck. No that wasn't a typo. Believe it. My hypothesis is that it has something to do with the fact that they aren't American and have less exposure to Hot Topic exploitation and the God-forsaken faggotry of Crabcore, but that explanation is still lacking. A few years ago there was a German band calling themselves War From A Harlot's Mouth who also claimed to play Grind with metalcore influences, but only played breakdown after breakdown and a couple of synth-driven interludes. Uber-lame. 

But take one listen to the fourth track on here and you'll know how it should be down. The band pairs a quasi-Eye Of The Tiger power metalish guitar riff with an insane Dave Witte style blastbeat and come pretty damn close to changing the entire extreme metal game as we know it. Those thirty seconds definatly comes across as a sneak peak into what we may be listening to a couple years down the road, and for that song alone you should shell out the ten bucks and buy this fucking album (right here, bitch: http://Shop.relapse.com/store/product.aspx?ProductID=34726). I know I did, but that was only after I couldn't find it anywhere on the internet, which proves there definatly are benefits to being super-obscure and having less then ten people know who you are. 

There are a lot of moments on here that sound like when your typical Dillinger/Norma Jean clone tries to fuck you up with some jarring time changes and tempos, only this time they're done right, so that your ears are smacked with intensity rather then cliche. Keeping it all together are plenty of good ol' fashioned Death/Grind sections, puncuated by a vocalist with an awesomly wide-range, and some classic double-bass-three-on-a-meathook beatdowns. There's even a complete noise freakout/meltdown on the last track that scared the shit out of me just like the first time I listened to "U.S.S.A." by the Butthole Surfers. 

Overall this album reminds me of Animosity's "Shut It Down", possibly my favoprite Metalcore album of all time, and the more freeform elements of Grind bands like Pig Destroyer (Scott Hull did the final mix for theyre half of the album) and Discordance Axis, making it an unbelievably promising start from this young band. 

Bonus Points: The super-cool artsyness of the album cover and layout. Very reminiscent of The Inalienable Dreamless. I love when super-heavy bands match their intensity with equally artsy and unique album covers. Not everything has to have a picture of some girl eating feces while getting raped to death by goblins on it!

Download Track 4 Here (Toilet Paper Not Included):

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=3aa504410be3b464e7ba8e3c6e11ce206006a82711e6c9f1a9a26c4ed87536eb