Where they from?
Germany. Listen, I know this is the part of the article where I’m supposed to go on some weird rant about wherever the band is from and then laugh to myself afterwards knowing that Albert has to read it all and fix all the typos, but I just wanna take a second and say to everyone to stay safe this week. You might have heard that there is this “coronavirus” thing making the rounds that’s fucking everything up for everybody and I think it’s important that we all just do what we can to come together and fight this thing any way we can. Apparently it can’t get you if you just spend all day in your mom’s basement listening to the Hemdale discography! Ha, fuck you, virus!
What they sound like?
Like a band too lazy to put make actual song names for their last album.
Why the hype?
Way back in the ether of 2009 I discovered this band on MySpace (YES, I AM THAT OLD) and was immediately struck by how perfectly they found that little niche between metalcore and grind, which was perfect for me at the time as I was transitioning from a flat brim hat Whitechapel dude to a Nasum back patch kinda guy. I even corresponded with the band a little bit via the interwebs, which was a thing you could do back in those days (I mean, I’m sure you can still do it now, but it just sounds cooler when I say that).
The band’s early stuff, especially their split with death-dealers Shimetsu from 2009 always reminded me of their fellow countrymen War From A Harlot’s Mouth, but instead of relying on breakdowns to carry the music, ATKA always found ways to subvert metalcore’s more redundant tendencies with creative outbursts, whether they be in the form of unexpectedly melkodic flourishes or twisting-snaking song structures.
Latest Release?
Untitled Album 1 from 2018. I was beyond excited when I discovered that not only was this band still active but in the time since I had first checked them out, they had left most of the metalcore tendencies behind and truly embraced grind insanity. This album fits in well with similar entries from bands like Psudoku, Die Choking and even at times Gridlink. The only issue is the band’s refusal to name the songs anything coherent (I really like
2xs{o:}6xs{lcxxcl:}4xs{lcc29d:}3xs{cl}2xs{cc.} ) but there are plenty of twists and turns for any adventurous grindcore fan to enjoy. Make sure you wash your hands before and after:
