Review by Felix on March 26, 2024.

The release of Atrophy's debut was accompanied by a big hype; as always, I am referring here, first and foremost, to the situation in good old Germany. My metal bible of the eighties, the RockHard magazine, announced the next big thing and, as far as I can remember, even the Metal Hammer shared this opinion, albeit these pitiful wimps usually did not appreciate thrash bands very much. Allergic against any form of controlled hysteria, my metal brother and me became sceptical. Nevertheless, one of us had to scrape his pocket money together in order to buy the album. Due to our collaborative method, this time the finger of fate pointed at me, while he was looking out for the products of glorious formations such as Hallows Eve, Dark Angel and so on.

To come directly to the point, "Socialized Hate" is almost overloaded with tightly performed thrash metal. Each and every song achieves a solid level of power, aggression and, last but not least, musicality, but only a relatively small number of tracks stand out, at least in comparison with milestones such as "Bonded by Blood" or "Darkness Descends". Please be aware of the fact that this debut was published in the golden days of thrash. No month passed without having seen a new masterpiece, but "Socialized Hate" does not deserve this seal of approval. Its first track lacks of the explosive force of comparable openers such as "Chalice of Blood" or "Plunging to Megadeath". The fifth track, "Beer Bong", wants to be funny, yet there is only a very thin line between fun and stupidity. Fortunately, the remaining pieces of the A side are more serious and offer mature song structures, intelligently designed riffs and this kind of choruses that score with the perfect balance between pressure and catchiness. "Matter of Attitude" is my personal favourite, because its sharp lines are perfectly supplemented by very well written lyrics about the ignorance of self-declared individualists and complacent elitist groups. Who is not familiar with these apologists of idiocy? The text is penned by guitarist Chris Lykins and this clever dude has something to say. The lyrics of the title track are also anything else but stupid, even though one does not fully agree with the content.

By the way, the title track kicks off the B side and, strange duplicity, it suffers from the same symptoms as the opener. Instead of being a flagship of the full-length, it appears as just another acceptable thrash song. The creation of a five minutes piece is not yet a speciality of the guys from Arizona. So what. Irrespective of their different levels of velocity, the following numbers have more punch. The sinister "Product of the Past" proves that thrash metal does not necessarily need a high tempo in order to be impressive. With the exception of a short mid-paced part, it is slowly creeping forward in a menacing manner, based on a strong riff and a desperate chorus. The brilliant lyrics appear as a variation of "Like Father, Like Son", the hellish scenario of Exodus about domestic violence and its long-term effects. Needless to say that Lykins has written the lyrics. "Rest in Pieces" and "Best Defense" are the further pearls of the B side. Equipped with genuine riffing and an appropriate amount of breaks, they have the same vibes as many early tracks of Forbidden or Testament. Regrettably, one has to say that Brian Zimmerman is not a very charismatic singer. He does not lack of motivation and dedication, but his ordinary voice proves itself to be problematic. Without making serious mistakes, he cannot hold a candle in comparison with Russ Anderson or Chuck Billy.

As expected, Bill Metoyer had forged a good sound and therefore it was beyond doubt that "Socialized Hate" enriched the thrash community. Nevertheless, the artificially generated hype had not been justified and the fact that Atrophy unfortunately released only two albums did not speak for the toughness of the guys. Yet aside from the hyperbolic media, "Socialized Hate" was - and still is - a cleverly arranged album that did not propagate any form of violence. Guess my metal brother shares my rating.

Rating: 7.7 out of 10

Review by Carl on August 20, 2023.

A cover with the name Guillotine Terror and a reversed cross on it, that just seems tailor-made to grab the attention of any underground metalhead for sure. I did not know what to expect, but curiosity got the best of me, blindly bought it, and I'm happy to conclude that this is a killer little platter for sure!

Guillotine Terror deal in a volatile mixture of old school death metal in the way of early stuff by Massacre, Death and Morgoth, with a big helping of Disrupt, Extreme Noise Terror and Doom style crustcore thrown in, but Macabre and S.O.B. are in there as well. This is some awesome and violent stuff, driving the point home by means of pounding percussion, simple but great fuzzed-out riffing and hoarse barking vocals. Slower sections do spring up here and there, but their role is more that of a build up to the thrashing parts. The songs are short and energetic, keeping it simple and effective in their execution, and the focus stays on energetic aggression, not far-fetched musical niceties. It's certainly no high art, but it's awesome in its straightforward approach.

The production is that of a true underground product from around that time: not great, but it gets the job done. The guitars could have been louder in the mix, and the vocals a little less, but it does manage to keep the overall performance energetic enough. This type of sound mix works well with the crusty death/thrash the band has on offer, and it manages to maintain the punkish energy well enough to keep it all convincing throughout. It is a bit on the silent side, but that problem is solved by a yank to the right on the volume knob.

This is a fun little platter that has old school extreme metal and underground nostalgia neatly wrapped up in a nice package. Original this ain't, and it wasn't back in 1991 either, but the energy and awesome underground vibe emanating from this EP do the job well enough for me!

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Carl on August 20, 2023.

A cover with the name Guillotine Terror and a reversed cross on it, that just seems tailor-made to grab the attention of any underground metalhead for sure. I did not know what to expect, but curiosity got the best of me, blindly bought it, and I'm happy to conclude that this is a killer little platter for sure!

Guillotine Terror deal in a volatile mixture of old school death metal in the way of early stuff by Massacre, Death and Morgoth, with a big helping of Disrupt, Extreme Noise Terror and Doom style crustcore thrown in, but Macabre and S.O.B. are in there as well. This is some awesome and violent stuff, driving the point home by means of pounding percussion, simple but great fuzzed-out riffing and hoarse barking vocals. Slower sections do spring up here and there, but their role is more that of a build up to the thrashing parts. The songs are short and energetic, keeping it simple and effective in their execution, and the focus stays on energetic aggression, not far-fetched musical niceties. It's certainly no high art, but it's awesome in its straightforward approach.

The production is that of a true underground product from around that time: not great, but it gets the job done. The guitars could have been louder in the mix, and the vocals a little less, but it does manage to keep the overall performance energetic enough. This type of sound mix works well with the crusty death/thrash the band has on offer, and it manages to maintain the punkish energy well enough to keep it all convincing throughout. It is a bit on the silent side, but that problem is solved by a yank to the right on the volume knob.

This is a fun little platter that has old school extreme metal and underground nostalgia neatly wrapped up in a nice package. Original this ain't, and it wasn't back in 1991 either, but the energy and awesome underground vibe emanating from this EP do the job well enough for me!

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Adam M on February 4, 2026.

This was a very adventurous album that made a name for the band with its unique style and psychedelic presentation.  It is also an Asian album and is important for the culture because of the very distinctive style the band possesses.  This is an atmospheric listen and one of the best albums of the avant-garde genre because of its pioneering style.

The musicianship is solid with a great deal of emphasis placed upon the guitar work which is rather psychedelic in nature and fits the tracks nicely.  The singing is very authentic to the band’s home area and makes the songs sound very distinctive and creative.  Add in a good production job and this is a very strong album.

There is still the idea that the band could be even more creative and they perhaps were on their In Somniphobia album.  This shows them to be perhaps a very limited band because they can only take their innovation so far before they hit a wall.  Still, this was a very entertaining album and had an impact on me with its psychedelic style.

Overall, I found this to be one of the best albums by Sigh and a very refreshing take on avant-garde music.  Songs such as “Corpsecry-Angelfall” make for a very neat venture into the genre and show that the band has the chops to make something innovative.  This was a very interesting listen and one of the best albums of the style I have heard.

Rate: 7.7 out of 10

Review by Tobias on June 24, 2001.

This is the first I've ever heard of Sigh, but what a hell of an introduction it was. "Imaginary Sonicscape" is the most fabulously innovative thing I've heard in metal for many years.

This band will creep you out, make you laugh, make you play air-guitar, rock out and possibly accomplish all three at the same time. In the words of Mirai, Sigh's black/death growler, "We consider our new album to be a 21^st century metal album with 70's equipment, 80's metal spirit and 90's digital technique."

Woven into Shinichi's death-rock power-chords is a delusional psychedelic set of keyboards that is really the foundation for Sigh's weirdness. The emotion behind this sound will range from being disturbing in the way that a chicken plucking the eye of a gutted elephant in your house would be to a bizarre almost comical parody of itself.

On occasion, the swirling psychedelic keys performed by Mirai can be verge on being overkill, but the guitars of Shinichi, sporting a strong resemblence to those of Iron Maiden, are very adept at keeping the album intensely interesting and sometimes just plain badass.

Although they've been compared to the psychotic jazz and rock fusion antics of John Zorn (produced Mr. Bungle, horns Naked City), I don't quite see the same level of what is sometimes unpalatable chaos, rather a much more dizzying sound with classic metal roots. The vision of this band is one that is certainly to be admired.

A lot of people call this band black metal. I have a hard time with that one, too; this is just too tripped out for black metal. Unlike the majority of other exceedingly unique metal bands, Sigh and the "Imaginary Sonicscape" are actually a hell of a lot of fun to listen to.

In my opinion, some of the highlight tracks on this one are the very rockin' opening track, Corpsecry - Angelfall, the incredibly unreal Nietzchean Conspiracy, and the utterly insane Requiem - Nostalgia. This is a disc built on hallucinogenic time-traveling visions of metal.

Bottom Line: If you're not already doing 'em when you listen to this album, it'll make you feel like the super-drug-monkey o' the day. This is cult classic.

Rating: 10 of 10

Review by Carl on August 20, 2023.

I primarily know this lot from their excellent North Of Nowhere ... LP, where they play a form of old school death metal mixed with a copious dose of crust, kinda like Master meets Axegrinder meets Celtic Frost. But way before that, there was this EP, and the style here is quite different from what was on the LP. Keep reading if you want to know more.

There are a couple of obvious signs that kinda give away what this is going to sound like. The band name taken from a Napalm Death song is one, but the second and most obvious clue is the fact that we are treated to 18 tracks under 13 minutes, that has grindcore written all over.

Napalm Death (and especially their "Scum" and "From Enslavement ..." albums) are a very obvious influence, but Rot (BRA) and Agathocles have also left some serious marks on the sound of the band. There are a lot of blast beats and simple but raging fast guitar riffing, all poured into short songs that sometimes last mere seconds. The gruff growling alternating with the insane screams are another staple of the genre, and in addition of those already mentioned, this approach also has me thinking of bands like Disrupt, Infest (US) and Extreme Noise Terror. The execution is maniacally energetic and hectic, and in its totality it simply oozes aggression everywhere. This is pure old school grindcore with a slight crust edge to it, and dammit, does this go in smooth!

Production-wise it is, as is to expect, all on the raw side. There is not a lot of bass present in the mix, the drums sound slightly on the thin side, and the guitars are bordering on white noise, with the vocals being what primarily keeps the music together. If you read this, you could think that this sounds horrible, but even if the production is on the raw side, this thing still emanates underground charm and you can feel the frenetic energy radiating from the music. After all, this is grindcore, not Beyoncé's new single, it is meant to sound uncivilized.

Although I prefer their debut full length, this little gem of underground delight manages to push all the right buttons in my household. It's fast, aggressive and a totally bonkers exercise in grinding insanity. All into those grind bands mentioned above, and old school grindcore in general, sink your teeth into this one!

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Carl on August 20, 2023.

A cover with the name Guillotine Terror and a reversed cross on it, that just seems tailor-made to grab the attention of any underground metalhead for sure. I did not know what to expect, but curiosity got the best of me, blindly bought it, and I'm happy to conclude that this is a killer little platter for sure!

Guillotine Terror deal in a volatile mixture of old school death metal in the way of early stuff by Massacre, Death and Morgoth, with a big helping of Disrupt, Extreme Noise Terror and Doom style crustcore thrown in, but Macabre and S.O.B. are in there as well. This is some awesome and violent stuff, driving the point home by means of pounding percussion, simple but great fuzzed-out riffing and hoarse barking vocals. Slower sections do spring up here and there, but their role is more that of a build up to the thrashing parts. The songs are short and energetic, keeping it simple and effective in their execution, and the focus stays on energetic aggression, not far-fetched musical niceties. It's certainly no high art, but it's awesome in its straightforward approach.

The production is that of a true underground product from around that time: not great, but it gets the job done. The guitars could have been louder in the mix, and the vocals a little less, but it does manage to keep the overall performance energetic enough. This type of sound mix works well with the crusty death/thrash the band has on offer, and it manages to maintain the punkish energy well enough to keep it all convincing throughout. It is a bit on the silent side, but that problem is solved by a yank to the right on the volume knob.

This is a fun little platter that has old school extreme metal and underground nostalgia neatly wrapped up in a nice package. Original this ain't, and it wasn't back in 1991 either, but the energy and awesome underground vibe emanating from this EP do the job well enough for me!

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Carl on August 20, 2023.

A cover with the name Guillotine Terror and a reversed cross on it, that just seems tailor-made to grab the attention of any underground metalhead for sure. I did not know what to expect, but curiosity got the best of me, blindly bought it, and I'm happy to conclude that this is a killer little platter for sure!

Guillotine Terror deal in a volatile mixture of old school death metal in the way of early stuff by Massacre, Death and Morgoth, with a big helping of Disrupt, Extreme Noise Terror and Doom style crustcore thrown in, but Macabre and S.O.B. are in there as well. This is some awesome and violent stuff, driving the point home by means of pounding percussion, simple but great fuzzed-out riffing and hoarse barking vocals. Slower sections do spring up here and there, but their role is more that of a build up to the thrashing parts. The songs are short and energetic, keeping it simple and effective in their execution, and the focus stays on energetic aggression, not far-fetched musical niceties. It's certainly no high art, but it's awesome in its straightforward approach.

The production is that of a true underground product from around that time: not great, but it gets the job done. The guitars could have been louder in the mix, and the vocals a little less, but it does manage to keep the overall performance energetic enough. This type of sound mix works well with the crusty death/thrash the band has on offer, and it manages to maintain the punkish energy well enough to keep it all convincing throughout. It is a bit on the silent side, but that problem is solved by a yank to the right on the volume knob.

This is a fun little platter that has old school extreme metal and underground nostalgia neatly wrapped up in a nice package. Original this ain't, and it wasn't back in 1991 either, but the energy and awesome underground vibe emanating from this EP do the job well enough for me!

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Carl on August 20, 2023.

A cover with the name Guillotine Terror and a reversed cross on it, that just seems tailor-made to grab the attention of any underground metalhead for sure. I did not know what to expect, but curiosity got the best of me, blindly bought it, and I'm happy to conclude that this is a killer little platter for sure!

Guillotine Terror deal in a volatile mixture of old school death metal in the way of early stuff by Massacre, Death and Morgoth, with a big helping of Disrupt, Extreme Noise Terror and Doom style crustcore thrown in, but Macabre and S.O.B. are in there as well. This is some awesome and violent stuff, driving the point home by means of pounding percussion, simple but great fuzzed-out riffing and hoarse barking vocals. Slower sections do spring up here and there, but their role is more that of a build up to the thrashing parts. The songs are short and energetic, keeping it simple and effective in their execution, and the focus stays on energetic aggression, not far-fetched musical niceties. It's certainly no high art, but it's awesome in its straightforward approach.

The production is that of a true underground product from around that time: not great, but it gets the job done. The guitars could have been louder in the mix, and the vocals a little less, but it does manage to keep the overall performance energetic enough. This type of sound mix works well with the crusty death/thrash the band has on offer, and it manages to maintain the punkish energy well enough to keep it all convincing throughout. It is a bit on the silent side, but that problem is solved by a yank to the right on the volume knob.

This is a fun little platter that has old school extreme metal and underground nostalgia neatly wrapped up in a nice package. Original this ain't, and it wasn't back in 1991 either, but the energy and awesome underground vibe emanating from this EP do the job well enough for me!

Rating: 8 out of 10