Longtime Chicago thrashers Aftermath have returned from a 25 year slumber. Releasing their debut, Eyes Of Tomorrow, in 1994, 2019 sees their second album come to light. There Is Something Wrong makes for an interesting title and the music contained is even more so. Not what I was expecting, this record is a whirlwind of spastic tracks spewing odes of government conspiracies and warning listeners about the evils of the global elites. The cuts segue into each other and contain spoken word parts with creepy sound effects to set the dark mood of the album. It becomes a bit too much at times and these lyrical ideas are obviously going to turn some people off, but if that’s no bother than the music will surely keep listeners on the edge of their seat.

For starters, There Is Something Wrong isn’t straight up thrash metal, there are loads of progressive noodling and rhythmic drumming to set the tone of each topic that’s bombarded on the listener. The closet we get to a full-on, straight ahead thrasher is the furious “Diethanasia”. Other than that, there are plenty of progressive oddities fueled by the vocals of Kyriakos “Charlie” Tsiolis, who at times sounds like a pissed off punk and at other times sounds like sort of the orator proclaiming these various atrocities going in the world. The different shapes this album takes are crazy and it will take a quite a few listens to get used to what’s going on here. “False Flag Flying” features so much tempo and mood changes; it puts my head in a tizzy and a lot of that happens throughout this 47 minute lecture.

The incredible part is Aftermath manages to make it work for the most part and that’s due to the presence of razor cutting riffs and some pummeling and inventive drum work of Ray Schmidt. Those with an open mind and whose tastes reside in the thrash territory should definitely give this a listen. Whether one will like it or not; it will leave a lasting impression and perhaps that’s what’s most important.