Second CD release of the album. First CD release in 1994.
When you think of Hungary and metal, thrash is hardly what comes to your mind. There are some outstanding acts from a variety of genres, including the masters of raw, crude first-wave madness, Tormentor, or the earthly, rustic Dalriada, whose female vocalist Laura Binder is among the favorites of a lot of folk metal fanatics. You might even remember Pokolgép if you are into power or speed metal, who released a good amount of quality trad metal back in the 1980s. Without a doubt, thrash metal bands, if you manage to recall any, will be lower down the list, because to say that there is no abundance of bands in this style from Hungary is an understatement. The most notable act I've been familiar with for the longest time is called Archaic, and in 2008, they showed that it is possible to release an English-speaking, internationally competitive thrash disc, with unique variety and approach in there for good measure, too. Funny enough, they are not the only excellent thrash act from Hungary whose name begins with A and ends with C. Atomic, from Miskolc demonstrated the same exact thing, except more than a decade earlier than Archaic. This puts the album to 1994 on the timeline, but do not be fooled by the era
Slashing Victory was released in.
Among hardcore thrash maniacs, it is widely known that the 1990s, specifically the mid-to-late 1990s were
catastrophic for thrash metal. To this day, it is mostly unknown what possessed once-magnificent thrash metal bands, such as Slayer or Sepultura that sluggish, choppy, enervated compositions as opposed to the furious devastation were now the way to go. However, automatically assuming that this release sounds just like most well-known outputs by thrash bands during the 1990s would be a fatal mistake and could not land you further from the truth. Atomic recorded this disc back in 1992, a time way better for the genre than 1994, the year it was released. For all that's known to the public about this forgotten, underground jewel, the songwriting could reach all the way back to the mid-to-late 1980s, because the group has been active since 1983. After a couple of demos, and a troubled journey to find a label to release their first full-length,
Slashing Victory finally hit the market in 1994. And what a victory it was, my friends. This is the best Hungarian thrash album to date.
But what makes it so special? Let's begin with the album's tonality and aura. This is no close tailing of any major thrash band at this time, or before. There is no other album that would be able to replicate what this one holds. A statement like that requires a lot more than a refreshing case of finding a band that doesn't overuse the most cliché terms such as "toxic" or "nuclear" and comes up with something authentic, though that's no disadvantage. Most thrash releases are about anger, hatred, disgust, and malice, which are all beloved elements by fanatics. This record, however, manages to combine the aggression of thrash metal with feelings of resentment, disappointment, sorrow, and pain. These feelings are not presented with ruthlessness or brutality but with approachable compassion and comforting warmth that radiates through the guitar/vocal harmonies of Tamás Szilágyi, and the periodic acoustic or slower sections as they litter the songs from time to time. All of the above add up to a unique brand of dark, doomy brand of melodic thrash metal that doesn't sacrifice a lot on the heaviness-end of things, either.
This greatly colorful album has a lot of sides to it, but it is perfectly consistent with its message and vibe. Of course, to stay away from being a totally experimental band, they stuck strictly to the traditional, fast-paced rippers such as the starter "The Border", which blasts through the speakers at the speed of a bullet train, but it's intertwined with creative melodies all the way through. The chorus is especially memorable in that blasts the drums frantically behind the riffs, which will stay in your head with ease after the first listen. The best song on the album out of this kind of songs is "Resumption", which is a near-Rigor Mortis-esque piece (listen to the riffs!), that rips as hard as any aggression-oriented thrash group, but they managed to squeeze in a somewhat playful and laid-back chorus that might even reminisce the simplicity of skate punk. Total deviance from the commonly walked paths of a thrash record, but the best is yet to come. "Proud of Being" is the tallest standing accomplishment of the group, which is way more complex and multilayered than what thrash metal songs are for the most part. A mellow rhythm is played on an acoustic guitar, in collaboration with the bass, and the vocals go clean for a good amount of the song, but then the executioner comes. After the down-picked power chords, all hell breaks loose. Complete devastation takes over with pummeling drums and catchy, slid power chords. While he says "Proud of Being" during the chorus over and over again, the assertion paired with the uncertainty of the verses feels like he is desperately reassuring himself, in defense of the opposite, which might be what he truly feels deep inside. It's not easy to shadow these kinds of emotions particularly not with thrash metal, but here is a great example.
Overall, this is a magnificently unique, somewhat experimental, yet unbelievably effective thrash release from a group no one's ever heard of. The only reasonable complaint against this album is the production. Admittedly, this is far from being the clearest-produced CD out there, but it is also not terrible. Every instrument is clearly audible, even the bass is. Only issue is though, with a decent amount of grain and filth to everything. But lest we forget that this is a band from Miskolc, and recorded in 1992, so the circumstances were hardly on Atomic's side when it came to the production. Since this band might have legitimate excuses (both financial and geographical), they can easily be excused for the lack of sound clarity, and if you open your mind, you might even find that this sound benefits the band's music to some extent, due to the stiff, dark sound produced by the slight blur on the instruments. But forget that for a second, forget everything about the circumstances and the surroundings of the origin of the album, and instead, remember the following. There are
extremely few bands in history that manage to successfully combine well-written, colorful melodies that don't sound unnatural or derivative with the aggression and velocity of thrash metal. And there
absolutely no thrash bands who manage to do that AND add the undertone of sorrow and sadness the same way this release managed to. This is the only one.
Sample:
youtube.com/watch?v=2EUhwUucAS0
