Future Warriors

By the time they got around to recording their first album, Future Warriors, in 1985, Atomkraft had been kicking around the northeast of England for over six years -- and, therefore, so had many of these songs. This piece of information serves to explain both their relative consistency (as compared to the band's generally underwhelming later efforts) and Anglo proto-thrash characteristics (think N.W.O.B.H.M.); meaning dynamic former demo favorites like "Total Metal" and "Pour the Metal In" owed far more to regional predecessors such as Raven and Tank (who were first recording circa 1981) than subsequent American standard-bearers like Metallica or Slayer (1983 and after). That said, Atomkraft's repertoire wasn't limited entirely to thrash, with additional album notables like "Starchild" and "This Planet's Burning" coming across rather more diverse both of tempos and melodies, and resembling contemporary Brits Blitzkrieg or Tysondog (whose former drummer Ged Wolf, incidentally, now completed Atomkraft's ranks), in the bargain. And even if neither these, nor the aforementioned thrashers, necessarily deserved entry into the genre's worldwide pantheon, Future Warriors' blockbuster title track surely does so in terms of U.K. thrash exclusively. It also arguably stands head and shoulders above the band's other efforts, so it's improbable that casual listeners will find this release as interesting as serious thrash enthusiasts. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia