Head in a Jar – Atomic Circus EP

Shane | 10 September 2012 | Reply

By Shayne Bishop
6/10

Listen to Head in a Jar, and it’s blatantly obvious that the bands influences are firmly entrenched in the thrash metal titans of the 80’s and early 90’s. Overall, the influence of Anthrax is strongest, but vocally, Dave Mustaine can be heard loud and clear, while thrash bands that didn’t make the “Big 4” like Exodus and Overkill are present and even the likes of the newer Gama Bomb are there throughout this four track EP.

Overall “Atomic Circus” is a good starting point for a thrash metal band. The musical talent is most definitely present, but perhaps lyrically and vocally the band could do with a little work. Riff wise, we have a band that isn’t playing a million miles an hour just for the sake of it; in fact they’re actually quite restrained, which adds an element of catchiness to these songs. With generic song titles such as “Bloodsport” and “Judge Mental”, Head in a Jar might come across as a little unimaginative, but the songs are good. “King Gnawicus” and final track “Head in a Jar” (named after their stage prop, which is apparently their “manager”) are a little more inventive in the name department, but both tracks probably aren’t as good as the first two on this EP.

I get the impression that much like Anthrax, this band don’t take themselves too seriously, which is a good thing, because it adds an air of fun to the music, particularly the live show.

In Australia right now, we have a lot of young up and coming bands in the thrash genre, most notably for me are Seppuku from Melbourne and Fragmenta from Adelaide and I think that Head in a Jar can quite easily rise to the top of Australian thrash along with the aforementioned bands and help to make heavier music relevant in Australia once again.

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