When it comes to D-beat and noisier punk, Iron Lung Records continues to be one of the go-to labels when you want music that’s going to bludgeon you repeatedly in a short period of time but have elements that stand out from the crowd. Portland’s Atomic Prey fits this description perfectly, as their self-titled debut unleashes a wall of sound and aggression in just under fourteen minutes but varies the attack up more than the average band of this type. With hints of everything from psychedelic rock, noise rock, and even some post punk woven seamlessly into the material, you might be surprised to find just how catchy some of the riffs and rhythms are beneath the abrasive exterior.
Atomic Prey gives a pretty good idea of what makes them different on opener “Amygdala”, as while you’re greeted with a quick burst of feedback and pounding drums after hitting play the guitar and bass work has a hazier, psychedelic sheen to it for the first forty seconds or so that reminds me more of post punk and even some deathrock. But as you hit the first minute that familiar D-beat drum pattern comes bursting in and the distortion picks up for a more frantic and direct assault. Despite the fact that every song is two to three minutes (or less), the band crams quite a bit of variety into that span of time and is just as likely to hit you with a slower, brooding riff as they are a blasting onslaught. Closing track “Fear” gives the psychedelic side a chance to sprawl out more, allowing them to twist and turn around the rumbling low-end in ways that form a more twisted and nightmarish soundscape. While the core sound and genres Atomic Prey pull from is very different, I was reminded a lot of the debut demo from Chilean black/speed metal band Sign of Evil as there are a lot of similarities to the way the psychedelic layers ebb and flow to create something harsh yet strangely catchy. There’s certainly room for the band to further expand on these elements, but what even at this early stage there’s a lot of substance that makes specific songs stand out and that’s rare for this genre. The production values are also worth mentioning, as there’s the buzz and feedback that’s common for Scandinavian style D-Beat as well as the pummeling low-end from the bass and drums, but the hazier layers also have enough space to expand and grab your attention.
Vocalist Aba Asantewa has the type of shriller, reverb drenched scream that is perfectly suited for Atomic Prey’s sound and this is another area of the band’s music that will instantly grab listeners once they press play. At times the production does start to wash out the screams and shrieks a bit due to the noise level, but they always claw their way back to the top and have key moments on each song that hit as hard as possible. Stylistically the performance reminds me of more recent bands like Sial mixed with classic Scandinavian D-beat, as every word comes through sharp and punchy. There’s a rawness to the material that makes it sound as though the sheer intensity you hear on this album is exactly what you’d get on-stage, and that is one of the elements that has kept me hitting the repeat button to get smacked again and again.
As much as I like D-beat adjacent bands, the way many of them strictly adhere to the style’s traits from a few decades ago does make for intense listens that can be hard to tell apart. Atomic Prey naturally pushes outward into some additional genres while retaining that noisy and aggressive foundation, injecting some of post punk and deathrock’s gloom and coldness while also layering some hazy, nightmarish psychedelics over top for good measure. This gives the material some real staying power once the initial shock wears off, and while there are plenty of elements that they could choose to explore further Atomic Prey has started off very strong. Atomic Prey is available from Iron Lung Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg