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ATONEMENT
Sadistic Invaders

Dying Victims Productions (2023)
Rating: 7/10

Trying to look and sound evil, Stockholm, Sweden-based upstarts Atonement have raided their daddy’s 80s heavy metal collection and found the usual Venom, Bathory, Destruction and Sodom albums for influence.

Atonement’s debut full-length album Sadistic Invaders is standard practice in today’s climate. From ‘Hellish Delight’, through ‘Evil Disaster’ and culminating with the title track this is predictable rust n’ bolts black thrash armed with spiky guitars, witchy rasps and tin can drums. In 1984 this was scary, in 2023 it’s often all too derivative and comical, but kudos to Atonement for keeping the burning banners aloft even if I’d prefer to just dig out my old Destruction demo tapes.

The tracks are short n’ snappy and seem to blur as one blasphemous haze of unintentional comedy. Even so, the tracks crack like a whip in their quest for rawness and underground grimness, and this is enjoyable stuff if you like primitive and straight to the point lashing.

The lyrics here are crudely naive, childish almost: “Evil is smiling, children crying, demons flying…” (‘Evil Minds’), “Axe of death is looking for you…” (‘Axe Of Death’), and “Kill the virgin and drink their blood…” (‘Death Merchant’). But it is what it is; simple, grotty cave-dwelling leathery metal that still might cause plumes of black smoke in the bedrooms of heavy metal teenagers everywhere.

Neil Arnold

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