ATROPHIA RED SUN „Twisted Logic”

ATROPHIA RED SUN (A.R.S. for the rest of this review) is a Polish band formed in 1995 that plays a fusion of industrial and melodic death metal. Early in their career, A.R.S. played doom and progressive metal however after a two year hiatus they refocused the music to an aggressive melodic death approach with numerous industrial references.

So I took one look at the album cover and two bands came to mind: MESHUGGAH (from one of my favorite videos from 2005 for the track “Shed”) and the album cover of melodic death staples NIGHTRAGE's “Descent into Chaos”. Ironically enough (or maybe it's due to the fact that I now have those two stuck in my head), I see numerous similarities between A.R.S. and the bands listed above. MESHUGGAH's industrial influence is profoundly heard however the rhythm section in A.R.S. isn't nearly as pounding as MESHUGGAH's. NIGHTRAGE however is where the melodic death side of A.R.S. comes in, with somewhat thrashy riffs and very intricate guitarwork over shift changing rhythms. The only problem with making these comparisons is that, if one takes a look at the year “Descent into Chaos” and “Catch 33” were released, you would notice that “Twisted Logic” came out two years prior to these releases. Now I am not saying that those albums were influenced by A.R.S. but I am saying that these guys may have been a bit ahead of their time with this release.

A.R.S. has produced a pretty good album with “Twisted Logic”. I give this album a lot of credit due to the fact that it was released much before many of these elements became so prevalent in melodic death. The keyboards / synthesizers guide each track on the album, whether it be contributing overall atmosphere or heavy melody to each track. The guitarwork is very well executed and I can respect the level of experimentation on this album. The vocals are very diverse, but focuses mainly on Shagrath from DIMMU BORGIR, but cannot be solely limited to that parallel as I can also hear range from MARILYN MANSON to Robert Meadows of A LIFE ONCE LOST, which is very difficult to pull off effectively but turns out pretty good overall. Considering there are two bassists, it's pretty easy to deliver a pummeling performance, however that might be my only problem with A.R.S. There are only a few tracks where the bass sound is absolutely thumping. And only one more where I can say the bass play really stands out. If this is rectified I can see A.R.S. having much success in the metal community.

I give this album a 6.5 out of 10 for a few reasons. I enjoy the experimentation and the style meshing which is rarely effectively pulled off. Each instrument seemingly fits each track with the exception of the bass at times. Also the keyboards, although great on almost every track, do get in the way of the overall picture at times. The problem is that I don't necessarily feel this is a complete album without those pieces completely falling into place. My favorites on the album include “Sins of Nations”, “Twisted Logic”, and “Nameless Rot”.

note: 6.5

Tracklist

Code Word (Personal) Cold World
Abstract
Infected Tears
Inspiration
Nameless Rot
Sins Of Nations
Sugar Cube (Cyber Instrumental)
Twisted Logic
Structure Of Emptiness
Into (My) Xication
Acid Sideefect Lost In Darkness (Cyber Instrumental)

Line-up

Paweł – Drums
Grzegorz (Felo) Feliks – Bass
Miłosz Likowski – Drums
Łukasz Wronka – Bass
Rafał (Kastor) Kastory – Guitar