Kingcrimsonprog Arizona’s Atrophy aren’t the most well-known Thrash Metal band out there, but their 1988 debut album Socialised Hate is somewhat of a cult classic. Two years later they would follow it up with Violent By Nature on Roadrunner Records, before breaking up like many of the less successfully Thrash acts would as the musical landscape of shifted in the ‘90s.

Although their debut gets most of the attention, this follow up aint half bad either. There’s a song on here called ‘Forgotten, But Not Gone’ and that’s sort of the way I feel about this album. You won’t read about it in many metal magazines or websites nowadays, even in a Thrash retrospective special, but that doesn’t mean its not there, offering some value to those that are still interested.

The production is perfect, the length is perfect, the performances are solid and the musical direction is perfect if you like pure American Thrash that isn’t proto-death, proto-black or crossover, but rather just Thrash through and through. Musically, Atrophy are kind of reminiscent of Testament, with low pitched vocals, meaty riffs and speedy but satisfying drums.

This album takes on a slight Death Angel kind of bounce at times (check out the catchy beats of the Title Track). They also attempt to get a bit more technical, as everyone seemed to in 1988-1990 and start playing with complex structures and messing with their time signatures a bit more (check out ‘Slipped Through The Cracks’ to see them get a bit more ‘And Justice or Twisted Into Form in scope).

If you like Thrash, and just have to have some more, then this album is no disappointment and you should definitely check it out. Its got the crunch, its got the speed, its got the attitude. The only thing that’s missing is the killer songs. Its one of those albums like For Whose Advantage by Xentrix or Ticket To Mayhem by Whiplash or World Circus by Toxik that are brilliant if you like Thrash, but which are sort of hard to recommend them to people as they sort of offer nothing new to someone already familiar with the genre, and don’t have any unique selling point to draw in new fans. ‘’What do you mean they don’t blend it with west coast hip hop, vintage big band jazz and lengthy oboe interludes?’’

In summary; Like Thrash? Here is some good if unremarkable Thrash. End of story.

Stephen Try imagining a portion of early Megadeth, Kreator, and Nuclear Assault mixed in one big bowl and you'll get an obvious picture of Atrophy's sound. "Violent By Nature" is their last album as the band decided to fold the cards after the leading songwriter, Chris Lykins, left the music business to pursue medical degree.

The band presented a solid album consisted of nine high quality tracks. Almost all of them are great except "Process of Elimination" and "In Their Eyes" are the only average tracks here. Some of my fave here are "Puppies And Friends", the title track, "Slipped Through The Cracks", "Right To Die", and "Forgotten But Not Gone". The deadly combo of Lykins/Skowron's riffage pattern and solos were displayed in tracks like "Puppies", "Violent", and "Things Change", but I believe the greatest tune here is "Forgotten But Not Gone". The fast-paced neckwrecking rhythm combined with dynamic riffs and tempo change turned out to be their strongest composition.

Atrophy is one of the less-known thrash bands with an applauding technical quality. A shame they didn't go far and I don't think there'll be a reunion soon as most of the band members are concentrating on their non-music business. It used to be hard to look for this album but the reissue version had came out in 2006 with bonus tracks so for old-school thrash fans, this is an essential buy and no reason to skip this fantastic album.