Reviews list for Atrocity (GER) - Hallucinations (1990)

I don't recall having listened to Atrocity before, but I have gleaned from a bit of background research that they are a chameleonic act who have gone through several evolutions of sound embracing gothic, groove, folk and industrial metal. This debut, released in 1990, reveals the band's roots to be dug deep into death metal and particularly the emerging tech death sound pioneered by the likes of Death, Cynic and Atheist. Personally I have a bit of an on / off relationship with tech death as it sometimes, especially in its modern incarnation, gets a bit too jagged and staccato for my particular preferences. I do enjoy many of these early pioneering tech death albums, though, especially those that manage to retain enough of the old-school death metal sound I love and thus keep me engaged and along for the ride. Luckily, I am able to add "Hallucinations" to my list of great early tech-death releases and to expand my enjoyment of the style.

With the ambition that Atrocity exhibit here on their debut it is really no surprise that they sought to expand beyond the restrictions of just playing one style throughout their career, as if they have a pathological refusal to be labelled and stereotyped. A great example of this ambition are the twists and turns they take in a sub-three-minute track such as "Fatal Step" which leave you thinking you just listened to a track two or three times that length. The songwriting is of such strength, though, that these diverse song parts lead into each other in a natural and seemless manner that doesn't interrupt the flow of the tracks and doesn't jar with me like several other technically-focussed death metal acts do. In fact I can only really recall one occasion where I felt a bit of jigsaw-like jaggedness coming in and that was during "Hold Out (To the End)" which unfortunately failed the flow test a couple of times.

With some killer riffs, a grimy and gritty guitar sound and a vocalist who sounds like he gargles with rusty nails and barbed wire Atrocity amass more than enough old-school credits to allow me to fully engage with their more ambitious side and to really get to grips with their technical flights of fancy. In fact they really had me hooked when the organ kicked in on closing track "Last Temptation", totally destroying all preconceptions, as if they were saying that we hadn't seen anything yet. I would quite happily set this on a shelf next to "Human" and "Piece of Time" and not consider it out of its league.

Atrocity is known as one of the most chameleon-esque German metal bands, going through different genres such as folky gothic metal, industrial, and even a bit of hardcore groove. They originally started with a tech-death sound, with their debut Hallucinations being one of the most unique albums of the genre, mature with astonishing talent!

Like I said before, 1990 was an early year of experimentation in death metal. Atheist hinted at the progressive direction they would take while standing by their pure thrashy death metal sound in Piece of Time, released earlier that year. Then a year later, Death added slightly more melodic and progressive elements to their sound in Human. And of course, we have the jazzy prog-death of Cynic's 1993 album Focus. Atrocity's Hallucinations deserves attention for their underrated part in the early tech-death league.

"Deep in Your Subconscious" kicks off the album with the usual death metal to expect, but what's unexpected is the lyrical concept. It's a big difference from the sci-fi-twisted Satanism and gore of Nocturnus' The Key. Here we explore the story of a girl who suffered from abuse in childhood and would later descend into drug addiction. In the next song, "Life is a Long and Silent River", you can hear that they're a band with unexpected traits, more than that of Atheist, Death, or Cynic. They're not combining genres the way those other bands would, but rather they make interesting ideas out of standard tech-death. It's just metal riffing all around in different songs, such as "Fatal Step".

The title track continues that deathly sense. The intro to "Defeated Intellect" is one of those interesting moments fun as f*** when you can handle the fire. "Abyss of Addiction" has more of the weird riff ideas that work well throughout these 3 and a half minutes. Weird while having memorable strength!

The amazing chorus of "Hold Out (to the End)" is what make that song one of the strongest highlights here. The lyrics would absolutely make you growl along, "HOLD OUT...TO THE END! RESIST...AND LIVE!!!" If you think keyboards should've been here like in The Key, they appear in the closing "Last Temptation". While the atmospheric organ tone only comes on in a storm of changing rhythms and virtuoso leads, they fit well for (SPOILER ALERT) the funeral of the girl who died from a suicidal drug overdose.

My first time hearing Atrocity, and while different from their sound now, with their tech-death sound only carrying on for one more album, Todessehnsucht, Hallucinations is an essential album for all death metal listeners. I barely have any complaints, and the album is great enough for 4.5 stars. The heavier metalheads should love this!

Favorites: "Deep in Your Subconscious", "Life is a Long and Silent River", "Hallucinations", "Hold Out (to the End)"