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Atom Smasher Lays Down "The Law" on New Single from Upcoming Split (Early Song Debut)


When a band is named after a Cirith Ungol song, what do you expect from their music? Galloping thrash riffs, straightforward Beatles song structures, bad musicianship all around, a general disdain for high fantasy, and killer operatic vocals, perhaps? Fuck no, of course not- and none of those are what you get from Germany’s Atom Smasher. This February they’re doing a 7” split (a truly wonderful and venerable format–I even wrote an article last year about 7″s and how much I dig them!) with their more-established countrymen Iron Kobra on the brilliant and also-German label Dying Victims Productions, who champion weird decisions and esoteric heavy metal in all forms and have been for years.

Today we’re exclusively premiering Atom Smasher’s side of the split, “The Law.” If you were wondering where the Cirith Ungol name-reference came from and why I brought it up at all, the introduction of the song should make that clear; at least to my poor non-German ears it screams as a clear nod to classic Ungol, and the wonderfully wonky vocals and riffing that come right after it complete the picture. To make it clear this band is not Cirith Ungol clonery, but it’s clear that they’re incredibly inspired by the spirit of wild freedom that Cirith Ungol and similar bands carried through their studio albums, and that same lack of giving a shit is the most clear carryover. “The Law” is not a song for people that are looking for more shiny and endlessly traditional metal to add to their collection alongside their pop-metal CDs. This is true fucking maniac stuff, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Here is what Gordon Overkill (guitars and vocals) has to say about “The Law”:

I (Gordon Overkill) had been playing around with the main riff of “The Law” since back in 2008. Still it took us more than a decade to forge it into this declaration of Heavy Metal, which is now blowing your speakers. As always, we stayed true to our principle of keeping off any kind of outside expectations, rather relying completely on our passion for the unique sound of the obscure masters of the underground from Manilla Road to Slough Feg, from Jaguar to RAM.

Atom Smasher’s split with Iron Kobra releases February 24th via Dying Victims Productions.