Information
Artist – Subtype Zero
Album – The Astral Awakening
Label – Seeing Red Records
Released – August 24th, 2018
Type – Full-length
Genre – Thrash Metal
Notes
Videos
- Blinded by Light (Music Video)
- Inhumane (Music Video)
- Cerebral Cage (Music Video)
Recording
Recorded at Bricktop Recording (Chicago, Illinois, USA).
Mastered at Hewwetover Studio (the Netherlands)
Identifiers
Barcode: 7 93150 67728 8
Additional
The Astral Awakening is the debut full-length from Ashtabula, Ohio thrash/crossover five-piece Subtype Zero, released August 24, 2018 via Seeing Red Records as a limited 300-copy, six-panel digipak (catalog SRR021). It followed the band's Through the Mist EP and a split with death metal act Crypt Rot. Formed in 2014 under the name Cringe, the band changed their name in 2018 following a legal dispute over the moniker. The lineup across this record is Hector Rivera on vocals, Steve Buhl and Alex Podmore on guitars, Lance Buckley on bass, and Dalton Edwards on drums — all lyrics credited to Rivera. Recorded at Bricktop Recording in Chicago, Illinois, the album was engineered and mixed by Andy Nelson. Mastering was handled by JB Van Der Wal at Hewwetover Studio in the Netherlands. Cover and interior artwork was produced by R. Yudha Saputra (Vrugarthdoom), whose work has also appeared on releases from Gatecreeper and Homewrecker. Stylistically, the record operates squarely within the mid-1980s American thrash & crossover corridor — the immediate reference points are Slayer, Exodus, D.R.I., and Cryptic Slaughter, with a more contemporary throughline to Power Trip. Across its twelve tracks and approximately 29 minutes, the record maintains a high-speed, no-filler attack: short songs built around rapid palm-mute riffs, double-tracked lead breaks, and barked vocals. Lyrical content, as outlined by Rivera in press materials, covers themes of psychological collapse, substance dependency, and violence. The album received coverage from Decibel Magazine (full stream) and No Clean Singing (track premiere) on release, and was named a Bandcamp Album of the Day in January 2021, placing it as a notable underground document of contemporary old-school thrash.
Tracklist
1. Blinded by Light – 02:56
2. Shrouded Mestasis – 02:50
3. Become Insane – 01:42
4. Unprecedented Salvation – 02:26
5. Twisted Obsession – 02:14
6. Flesh Famine – 02:07
7. The Astral Awakening – 02:28
8. Sin of the Innocent – 02:26
9. Relentless Cleansing – 02:31
10. F.T.C. – 01:10
11. Inhumane – 02:31
12. Cerebral Cage – 03:44
Total length: 29:05
Lineup
Band Members
Lance Buckley – Bass
Dalton Edwards – Drums
Alex Podmore – Guitars
Steve Buhl – Guitars
Hector Rivera – Vocals, Lyrics
Miscellaneous Staff
Andy Nelson – Engineering, Mixing
J.B. van der Wal – Mastering
Vrugarthdoom – Artwork
Chris Walter – Logo
Dalton Edwards – Photography
Irfan Gama Setiwan (R.I.P. 2016) – Design (witch)
Links
