Attomica "Attomica (Orange/Black Splatter)" 12"

The self-titled debut full-length studio album by Brazilian thrash metal act Attomica was originally recorded in 1987 and released through Equinox Discos in 1988.

The music on the album is filthy, raw, and energetic Thrash Metal. Because of the high-pitched snarling vocals, we even dare call this a Blackened Thrash Metal release. The sound production is 1987 Brazilian lo-fi: noisy and distorted, and it would be a stretch to call it professional-sounding, but that is what we expect and love in these records anyway. It does, however, suit the extremely raw nature of the music very well.

Other than “Lost Time,” which is an instrumental track, the rest of the seven tracks on the 37-minute-long album are all aggressive Blackened Thrash Metal tracks, delivered with fierce conviction and sometimes at a very fast pace too. It might not technically be blast beats, but considering that this album was released in 1988, the drumming is occasionally pretty fast-paced.

To call this album an intense experience would be an understatement, and truth be told, the only thing that really prevents this album from being in the same league as the seminal offerings of Slayer, Sodom, and Kreator is the production. Most likely the consequence of limited resources and maybe even a desire to mimic the same basic quality of sound found on the Hellhammer demos, things are so raw that at times one is tempted to backtrack a few seconds. With a production that more closely resembles the still raw but clearer presentation of Sepultura’s “Schizophrenia” or maybe even Kreator’s “Pleasure to Kill,” the potential that rests beneath the fog of this album’s mix would be far easier to grasp and enjoy.

This is, when all is said and done, a great example of where extreme Thrash was in its primordial state, obsessed with violence and insanity lyrically, and mirroring this sentiment musically at every possible turn. Mundane album art aside, this is an album that is anything but that, and one that fits in quite well among the elite of the Brazilian scene.

Tracklist:

1. Dying Smashed
2. Marching Over Blood
3. Lost Time
4. No Life Till Madness
5. Children’s Assassins
6. Flesh Maniac
7. Samurai