Three-piece outfits often hold a special place in heavy music history – especially if you look at the track record of diverse acts like Anvil, Coroner, King’s X, Rush, Triumph, and Venom to name but a few. Sydney, Australia’s Acrolysis are another power trio outfit that have been on the scene since 2016, releasing their debut EP Black Dog’s Serenade in 2019 followed by a collaborative EP with fellow Sydney based act Reaver entitled The Nobody Crowd in 2020. Coming away from the pandemic the band released their debut album Revolution to subsequently tour Australia in support, leading to their sophomore full-length Intoxicator. Expect a wide array of songs and styles present across this ten-track effort – incorporating classic and thrash metal, punk, grunge, and progressive elements across this almost hour-long odyssey.
The dynamic push of shorter, radio-friendly arrangements next to some epic tracks ensures plenty of time for each musician to execute their parts in ample versatility. The title track for example is an energetic outing that while hitting the progressive grunge/classic metal buttons, its also quite appealing due to the extra extreme screams that pop in, beyond a longer piano solo sequence that rivals the best work of Kansas, Styx, and Dream Theater. When guitarist/vocalist Konstantine Ana locks into a unison music to fervent melodic delivery for “Dead Man’s Hand”, you get visions of Rob Zombie and Michael Poulsen of Volbeat – while the rhythm section of bassist Sebastian Strangio and drummer Phil McDermott lock into this semi-swinging, heavy groove interplay that throws a number of tricks (and double kicks) at your headspace.
After the first third of the record, “A Nicotine Prayer” starts the more exploratory, longer side of the group’s songwriting as an eight-minute, 23 second cut. The grunge/doom-like ballad features impassioned vocals, an addictive circular bass line around the 5:44-6:15 mark before the more aggressive screams and weighty riff take command. “No Compromise” contains some preacher narrative elements, lower register grunge-like melodies from Konstantine combined with uplifting background harmonies as well as a longer instrumental sequence that contains everything from feedback squeals and bends to thoughtful, measured lead guitar work. The longest song “Phase 153” at over nine-minutes showcases Acrolysis at their most expansive (and technical) – an instrumental that contains organ, arpeggiator, and orchestra beyond some atmospheric shifts and intricate, progressive guitar passages.
This scribe has mixed feelings regarding Intoxicator for its long-term appeal. Acrolysis certainly possess the talent and ability to craft decent songs of a diverse nature – the question becomes, with so many sides to explore, will it be harder for them to retain a following? Proceed carefully into these waters – as it could be highly rewarding for some or exhausting for others.