Back and Alive

Sao Paulo's Atomica would return with a single T in their name and reunite with the same line up as their third full length Disturbing the Noise from '91. The live tracks here are from the better two of their three albums, recorded at the end of '03, with music that is just shy of an hour long.

This includes the founding guitarist and his brother, who bring out a dual identity to these live tracks with a rhythm to back up their wild solos. The vocals are the loudest force here with the rest of the instruments falling not too far behind. The drums sound only triggered on the bass drum, since bassy notes get cut out fairly easily live. And it appears like each drum is microphoned and audible. Also, the crowd can be heard faintly screaming and noise-making from some fan interaction. "Ahtohmeecah!" "Yeaaaah!" and a few spoken sentences are used to boast energy. The word "mosh" during one of the songs is a little cliche but what can you do.

While Fabio Moreira would vocalize similar to his Disturbing the Noise days, he would also take on Laerte Perr's tracks from the Attomica debut as well. Honestly, it sounds out of his element, with a straining, yet more distinguishable voice in comparison. He adds more tone though, without the one-tone screams of the past. This is more in-tow with thrash, as in matching with the notes, instead of the previous extended screams overtop by Mr. Perr; which seemed to come out with a brash attitude that might be hard to duplicate. Also keep in mind that this is a one-of-a-kind reunion nearly 13 years since their last full length recording. Trying to please each faction of fans might be a slightly challenging feat. Even someone as picky as myself included. There's a stick-out mess-up on the beginning of 'The Chainsaw,' which has Moreira miss his mark and come in late on the beginning part. From the sudden feedback it sounds like something happened to his microphone, or I'd like to think just simply too much head banging.

The tracks played from their Disturbing the Noise era are a deserving force live. Although, there are also a few altered sections compared to the self-titled album. While both follow an aggressive route, the drums don't display the quick chaotic, blasts, more of a very fast thrash beat and more so on time; the screaming vocals that gave these tracks their evil-edge are replaced with more inherently aggressive, thrash-like vocals. However, instead of the clearer, rough-around-the-edges voice he used on the third full length, it seems to get crustier and harsher. So, it is a toss up of him enhancing his previous vocals, and also adding his own flair to the prior vocalist's. The guitars are on the right track compared to the two albums: with identical solos, even during the whammy bar sections. There is also a minute-long solo at the end of 'Blood' on its own without the rest of the music.

Atomica would reunite probably for the sake of getting cut short back in the early 90s, and draws out their hi-top wearing fan base, slipping on jeans that don't fit and t-shirts that pre-date the fall of the Berlin wall. Back and Alive displays thrash in the millennium with an undertone of some death elements. While some sections are decent, especially from the Disturbing the Noise album, there are also moments from the debut that are hard to duplicate or even top. And I think Atomica stayed above water with their updated versions, yet had a few moments of losing strength and dipping just under with a few of these.