The Only Weapon of Choice - 13 Odes to Power, Decimation and Conquest

We all love the Australian extreme metal scene with countless killer bands, which play the most vicious and obscure styles of metal. I must say though that among all these bands there is one, which is more underestimated in my opinion and have hardly ever been mentioned among people’s favourites. It is Melbourne’s Atomizer. They have – or I should rather say had, because the band split up back in 2008 – quite vast discography, with several albums, EPs, etc. Enough to convince about the great quality of their music. My favourite piece of their discography is an album released back in 2003 titled “The Only Weapon of Choice - 13 Odes to Power, Decimation and Conquest”. Oh, this is a fantastic piece of old styled thrashing black metal. This album introduced me to Atomizer actually, as before I got it I didn’t know shit about the band at all. And I received this album from Agonia Records back in 2004, when they released it here in Europe. I was so impressed with the music that I even did interview with Jason Healey and more so, I even putted Atomizer on the cover of my fanzine – which I think was the only time (or at least the first time ever), when this band was featured on a cover of a zine / magazine. Cool! So, now it’s ten years since I got to know Atomizer and I guess it is also a good opportunity to play “The Only Weapon of Choice - 13 Odes to Power, Decimation and Conquest” and enjoy this awesome music one more.

And there is really so much awesome music to enjoy on “The Only Weapon of Choice” that I guarantee that the maniacs of pure, classic heavy metal will love it fully. Atomizer was taking a lot of influence from the classic 80’s bands, be it Venom, Bathory, Celtic Frost, Sodom, Destruction, Kreator… But they did that in excellent style, making sure that each song, which was composed was special and had something unique about it. I can sincerely say that there whole album is filled with killer classic songs and not even one may feel like a filler. From start to finish “The Only Weapon of Choice” delivers extremely awesome, utterly possessing and bestially crushing pure metal sounds, and this music truly feels like it was recorded back in the old days. It is a demonstration of power, of violence, viciousness and aggression.

Most of the songs on “The Only Weapon of Choice” are classic thrash metal combined with the black metal ferocity and evilness… and so you’ll witness some truly awesome, utterly aggressive and powerful songs such as “Power, Not Participation”, “Join the Blackheart Reich”, “The Campaign”, “The Only Weapon of Choice” and so on and on… they truly have some great riffs, awesome harsh vocals of Jason and you know… if you like the Aussie scene with Gospel of the Horns, Destroyer666 and Grenade then I bet you’ll love Atomizer as well. These songs have many hooks, many perfect parts to bang the skull… and sometimes like in “For Blackness Absolute” they almost have that punk simplicity and mood. Meanwhile somewhere in between you’ll find such “Sometimes They Hear the Bullet”, which is a pure tribute to Venom I think, but it’s such an excellent song, one of my favourites here! And even better is “When I Die, I Wanna Die Violently”. This is epic, kind of melodic track, maybe slightly similar to Desaser but better! Very catchy song, very memorable and with some quite interesting lyrics. So you can imagine that during the whole album Atomizer is delivering many great tunes and a lot of diversity, so it is just pure joy to listen to it. This is one of those albums, which never gets boring and for me it belongs to some of the best LPs, which came from the world down under. Very recommended!
Standout tracks: “When I Die, I Wanna Die Violently”, “Sometimes They Hear the Bullet”
Final rate: 85/100

‘Ripped apart by sharks! Torn to bits by a wolf!’ Pretty much the first lines I ever heard from this band and I was intrigued ever since. For me Atomizer were an escape from the more serious black, death and doom metal dominating my collection and listening time. They hail from Australia and embrace traditional thrash / black metal with a tongue in cheek attitude but never tacky or embarrassing. Alas this band came to my attention a couple of years after they split; fortunately they have left a consistent legacy for anyone looking to thrash out for half an hour or so.

The Only Weapon of Choice is the 3rd album and has given them time to mature their sound and song writing skills to produce a solid, catchy thrash attack. These 13 Odes to Power, Decimation and Conquest (as the subtitle suggests) are quite short affairs and the album powers into life with ‘Power, not participation’. Jason Healey has an excellent raw edge to his vocals but not so harsh you can’t understand what he’s singing about. You get to hear that excellent Aussie accent, making no bones of where they’re from. The riffs are shredded out with speed and they throw in some nice solo work to break things up. The gaps between songs are non existent, with each new song immediately exploding through the speakers (on the CD at least). ‘When I die, I Wanna Die Violently’ is a slower track but no less powerful with some great lyrics spoken for a more grandiose delivery. This is their ode to death, straight up with no bullshit, pretty much like the music.

The album rips along and by the time you get to ‘Isolation’ and ‘Join the Blackheart Reich’ you are getting some very fast blast beats, solos and bass picking. ‘The Fog of War’ is a narrative about errr war, a theme returned to again and again. So ends this furious thrash assault. Great album from a band that were at the top of their game. I really like the front cover artwork too, definitely their best and tops off everything else nicely. Throw this on when you want to stick two fingers up bang your head and drink beer as they do down under.

If you have been blessed by Satan you’ll have the version with the ‘Songs of Slaughter – Songs of Sacrifice’ EP as a bonus (limited to 666 hand numbered copies). Originally released a year after this album it offers up more of the same traditional black/thrash. ‘A cold farewell’ stands out as the vocals become cleaner and that Aussie accent comes to the fore. ‘The undoer of Creation’ is a bit more epic in its delivery, slowing down and being the longest track on the EP. You also get a cover of ‘Speak English or Die’ by S.O.D, clearly an old influence.

Zephirus - Oct 2011

Australia is home to a lot of my favourite metal bands, because they seem to have this ability of making really ripping records with memorable riffs. Atomizer definitely fits this description, but they manage to stand out amongst many of their fellow countrymen, putting their own Motorhead-esque twist on the black/thrash metal side of things. Their third album, "The Only Weapon Of Choice", can assure anyone that Atomizer deserves to be known as a classic Australian act with the likes Destroyer 666 and Gospel of the Horns.

The weapon of choice on this record is pretty obvious: riffs that absolutely rock. Infused with punk rhythms and a sense of melody that seems to be unique amongst Aussie bands, Atomizer hooks anyone who puts their ears to this record. There's nothing pretty or smooth about these riffs - they are neck-wrecking fast, and give this record the balls it needs to be effectively heavy. There's a good variety of riff styles here too, from really Motorhead-influenced, to tremolo picking madness, all the more stylized with drummer Suds' tight approach. He can blast, he can rock, and he can play hardcore punk beats, with some impressively quick fills. Tight playing, furious riffs, and even some slick guitar solos always lead to a great album.

Frontman Jason Healey's vocals work so well with Atomizer's sound. Instead of black metal howls or death grunts, we get a combination of evil, raspy rock vocals as well as some spoken word parts. He's fairly easy to understand, which really lets his stories of "power, decimation, and conquest" come alive. Much like the riffs, the lyrics end up becoming quite memorable, and will drive listeners to keep coming back for more of this furious record.

Every song on this record needs to be heard, there are no throwaway tracks here. I think this is Atomizer's best effort - nothing drags, nothing gets boring, and I can listen to this any time. Everything the band did with Suds on drums is a worthwhile listen (ie: if you've only heard their final album, disregard it, and listen to this instead). This album is a classic and one of the best things to come out of Australia.

With “The Only Weapon of Choice”, Atomizer have produced an absolute masterpiece of the Black/Thrash genre. Constantly thrashy and thoroughly violent, melody is also cleverly amalgamated to produce a very unique and mightily cool sound. Rock ‘n’ Roll influences are obvious, which makes this album a headbanger’s dream.
A re-recorded version of “When I Die I Wanna Die Violently” from the Barbaric Onslaught compilation is featured on the Disc and in my opinion is hands down one of the best metal anthems in existence. Other excellent tracks include the epic “The Campaign”, the extremely thrashy “Join the Blackheart Reich” and “Blackness Absolute”: a blackened Rock song with a fucking catchy lead riff.
The Only Weapon of Choice is definitely a marked improvement on Atomizer’s last album, which isn’t to say “Death Mutation Disease Annihilation” was substandard, Just that “Weapon” is brilliant. My advice: Buy two copies, lest something untoward happens to one.