Atrox - Binocular
Season Of Mist
Avant-Garde, Progressive Metal
10 songs (46:48)
Release year: 2008
Atrox, Season Of Mist
Reviewed by Goat

Experimental Metal tends to fall into one of two camps: the zany, wacky camp, and the ‘progressive’ camp. The differences are usually pretty clear: few would identify Arcturus and Alchemist as belonging to the same genre, even though both are clearly leftfield acts. Both types of Metal have equal artistic value, and both can be equally fun to listen to. Unfortunately, people rarely listen to Metal for its experimental worth, so much as for the sheer racket that blasts out of the speakers. This usually leaves experimental acts to wither and pass away in that eternal wintry land where bands that are too much for even Metalheads go to die.

That Norwegian experimentalist horde Atrox has been in existence since 1990 is the first surprise that you’ll get if you look into the history behind this fairly unique act. Another surprise is how little the band is known, despite featuring two members of that other northern bastion of experimentalism, Manes. Certainly, Atrox has much to offer those in search of a varied and interesting listen, in sound somewhere between modern Manes and Nine Inch Nails, with guitar riffs mostly spurned in favour of a mixed and highly complex electronic backing, which can take the shape of all manner of effects and samples that add up to a convincing collage.

It’s more Ayreon than Aborym, yet extremists out there shouldn’t be put off, as this is far from commercial. The odd dip into suspiciously Korny territory will raise eyebrows, but for the most part Atrox steer a path through Jazz-infested waters, with nods to Mr Bungle (Castle For Clowns) and to psychedelic electronica (Retroglazed). As ever, the biggest tragedy here is that it’s genuinely difficult (if not impossible) to predict your reaction to the music on offer. The best that can be done is to offer similarly experimental voyagers on the edge of music, and to hope that you discerning listeners out there will know enough about them to decide if you’re interested or not. Ultimately, all that can be said is: fans of experimental music in general, you’ll enjoy this.

MySpace
Killing Songs :
Retroglazed, No Coil For Tesla, Headrush Helmet, Binocular
Goat quoted 75 / 100
Other albums by Atrox that we have reviewed:
Atrox - Contentum reviewed by Alex and quoted 42 / 100
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