ATOMIK COCKTAIL – Metal Rages On (2025 remastered reissue) HQ *Exclusive*

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As requested, here’s the remastered reissue of American melodic metal / hard rockers ATOMIK COCKTAIL 1991’s album “Metal Rages On“. Hailing from Florida, ATOMIK COCKTAIL was the vehicle for guitarist / songwriter Bruce Batten to express his love for all things metal, beginning in the early ’80s with a band called BRAT releasing an album in 1984.
Then in 1986, looking for a more catchy, commercial sound Batten formed CUTTRHOAT, recording an album but not released at the time. Later, circa 1989, the guitarist formed ATOMIK COCKTAIL, essentially a re-branded CUTTRHOAT, and finally released in 1991 that previously recorded album on cassette.
It’s a bit confusing, but ATOMIK COCKTAIL’s 1991 K7 was in fact the album recorded in 1987 when they operated as CUTTRHOAT. The album was released for the first time on CD by Retrospect Records some time ago (now out of print), under the title “Metal Rages On”.
Now ATOMIK COCKTAIL’s “Metal Rages On” is being reissued. Featuring great vocalist Todd Plant (later enjoying success fronting Millenium, Eyewitness, and collaborating with Gary Hughes) who owns a voice similar to Jeff Scott Soto at the time, this is a kick ass collection of ’80s U.S. Metal / Hard Rock, very well recorded considering its indie nature. And rocks greatly.

Listen up, because we’re not just talking about a heavy metal album here; we’re talking about a transcendental, time-traveling document of pure, unadulterated Florida metal / hard rock wizardry!
The moment you drop the needle (or, you know, hit ‘play’ on your app), you are immediately sucked into the glorious, chaotic vortex that is Atomik Cocktail, hailing from the sunshine state’s own Tampa, the epicenter for all forms of metal in the 1980s.
This is the kind of sound that demands you own way too much hairspray and have at least one black light poster of a wizard fighting a dragon.

And get this—the lore behind this record is almost as wonderfully bonkers as the music itself!
This exalted collection of tracks is known by a mind-boggling three different album titles, which honestly just adds to its mythical status. Atomik Cocktail released the album by themselves on cassette in 1991 with the ridiculously cool title ‘Space-Metal Vampires from Hell’, but if you’re a real metal connoisseur, you know it also floats around reissued as ‘Metal Rages On’ and, get this, the material was actually originally recorded years earlier by the band still named Cutthroat!
It’s an insane, labyrinthine lineage that proves greatness can’t be contained by simple branding… or even consistent album naming, bless their shredding hearts!

The entire experience kicks off with the blistering, perfect opener, “Time Square.” It’s a high-octane assault of drums and guitars that just screams late-night mischief and neon lights. It sets the stage for a party that’s definitely going to end with a few broken laws and a massive hangover, and you wouldn’t have it any other way! It’s a sonic statement: “We are here, we are loud, and we are going to steal your girlfriend’s scrunchie before entering her panties.”

Before we get to the heavy hitters, we’ve gotta shout out a criminally underrated pairing: the smooth, mood-setting opener “Foreplay” (including ‘metal acoustic guitar’) leading right into the full-throttle punch of “Passion Attack.” Seriously, crank that transition!
And speaking of punches, when you hit “Road Warrior,” prepare for some sonic déjà vu, because that riff structure has such a massive, undeniable nod to Powerslave that you might actually start trying to draw the cover art on your notebook!

But oh my god, there is also “Hard As Nails.” If there was ever a song that wanted to be placed right between ‘Shout at the Devil’ and ‘Girls, Girls, Girls’ on your cassette mixtape, this is it! The obvious odes to Mötley Crüe are not just present, they are literally driving the tour bus, probably into a swimming pool. It’s got that perfect blend of swagger, aggression, and chorus hook that makes you want to put on more spandex and feather your hair. A stunning, and completely essential homage!

Now, hold on to your leather jacket and maybe buy a new one because it’s about to be shredded by pure sonic excitement, as the following track is, without a doubt, the album’s absolute apex mountain, the shimmering diamond in this trash heap of heavy metal brilliance: “First Born.” This song isn’t just a track; it’s a metallic experience wrapped in an explosion! It’s so good, you’ll need to check your pulse to ensure you haven’t been vaporized by the sheer riff power. The main riff is a certified, air-guitar-shredding, god-tier creation that sounds like it was beamed directly from a neon future where metal rules all! The soaring vocals hit notes that only dogs can usually appreciate. Atomik Cocktail didn’t just write a song; they forged a destiny! It is, quite simply, the greatest track on this entire, glorious release, making every other song on the album feel like a mandatory appetizer before the main feast.

And while detailing masterpieces, a small, tiny, little grievance: the actual album closer, “Don’t Lock Me Out” is the only track that’s merely good instead of world-shattering. It suffers from the tragic fate of having to follow “First Born”—a song so powerful it should have been the proper, final, drop-the-mic moment, leaving the planet smoking in its wake. Poor “Don’t Lock Me Out” never stood a chance and costs the album a few points.

Finally, I can’t wrap this without a nod to the glorious, little bit of hilarious thing on the track “Metal Rages On.” It is listed as a live track, giving it that raw, in-the-moment feel, but if you listen closely, you can clearly hear that it’s just a killer studio song cleverly layered with a crowd noise track to give it that arena thunder! It’s a brilliant, charmingly low-budget rock-and-roll trick that perfectly captures the “fake it till you make it” spirit of this entire, magnificent era of music.
”Metal Rages On” or ‘Space-Metal Vampires from Hell’ (or whatever you choose to call it!) is required listening for anyone who loves their classic ’80s metal loud, flashy, and just a little bit cliched.
Highly Recommended

You saw it here first at 0dayrox

01 – Times Square
02 – Foreplay
03 – Passion Attack
04 – War Zone
05 – Metal Rages On
06 – Road Warrior
07 – Hard As Nails
08 – Cutthroat
09 – First Born
10 – Don’t Lock Me Out

Todd Plant – Vocals
Bruce Batten – Guitars
Jim Williams – Bass
Russ Hammock – Drums

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