From Wikipedia:
METALenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), commonly known as Axetasy, is an aural empathogen–entactogenic drug with stimulant and minor psychedelic properties. In studies, it has been used alongside psychotherapy in the treatment of poser-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and social anxiety in autism spectrum disorder. The purported pharmacological effects that may be prosocial include altered sensations, increased energy, empathy, and pleasure. When taken by ear, effects begin in 1 to 2 seconds and last up to 40 minutes (or even 80 minutes, if listening is repeated). Short-term adverse (or are they favorable?) effects include banging of the head, grinding of the teeth, blurred vision, sweating, and a rapid heartbeat, and extended use can also lead to metal addiction and difficulty sleeping. Axetasy is often considered the drug of choice within the heavy metal culture and is also used at clubs, festivals, and house parties. Some users enjoy the feeling of mass communion from the inhibition-reducing effects of the drug, while others use it as party fuel because of the drug’s stimulatory effects. Small doses of Axetasy are used by some religious practitioners as an entheogen to enhance prayer or meditation. Axetasy has been used as an adjunct to New Wave of Traditional Heavy Metal spiritual practices.
Distributed by the suspiciously named Big Pharma firm Dying Victims Productions, Axetasy hails from Germany, and the drug’s mechanism of action works by flooding the victim’s patient’s brain with copious amounts of molten guitar leads in order to induce a state of therapeutic euphoria. If you choose to try the embedded pharmaceutical sample labeled “Beyond All Order” (after consulting your physician, of course), you’ll see that Axetasy’s debut recipe, Withering Tides, draws inspiration from a host of tried-and-true formulas from years past. Take all of the health benefits of speed metal, arena rock, early power metal, proto-thrash metal, and NWoBHM drug classes and add them together, and you’ll find that they can all be replicated by listening to this one easy-to-swallow pill. If you’ve ever used another Dying Victims product called Venator, you will probably find Axetasy’s effects pleasantly familiar.
Withering Tides hearkens back to the charming 1980’s, a time when most people got their prescriptions from a doctor with the last name “Feelgood,” and when most of those “prescriptions” took the form of white powders that were intended to be administered intranasally. Like most stimulants, Axetasy is simple, effective, and starts working immediately. A brief, 20-second, synth-laden intro quickly gives way to “Withering Tides of Space,” and as the blazing guitar work takes hold, you will notice your heart rate quickening, your pupils dilating, your genitals engorging, and your urge to air guitar and fuck shit up in a mosh pit titrating to therapeutically appropriate levels. Before ingestion, be aware that these effects will not dissipate until the closing seconds of final track “Nebulous Nightmares.”
While it would have been easy for a metal-based drug to fail to live up to a name choice as bold as “Axetasy,” that is certainly not the case here. Six-string engineers Johnny Kröner and Izzy Fetch likely skirted industry regulations as they packed enough high-voltage guitar work into this record to set their lab coats ablaze. I’d describe their playing the way my wife might describe my lovemaking: what they lack in virtuosity, they more than make up for with unbridled enthusiasm and effort. These unhinged pyrotechnics, combined with Kröner’s wild vocal delivery, give Withering Tides’ proprietary formula its patent-pending buzz. That buzz is so exhilarating that I’d be tempted to label Axetasy a Class-4.0 controlled substance if more of its songs could match the level of standouts like “Withering Tides of Space,” “Fatal Maze,” “Beyond All Order,” and “Axetasy – of Murder.” The drug’s production process results in an extremely pure sonic profile, with each active ingredient receiving enough room to shine through clearly without dilution.
Axetasy is not for everyone. Those suffering from elitism, snobbery, pretentiousness, fun-averseness or any other form of acute or chronic poser-itis should not take Axetasy, as spontaneous immolation has occurred. Ask your doctor if Axetasy is right or you, and if they say no, ask your doctor about your region’s Death with Dignity options.12
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 10 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Dying Victims Productions
Websites: axetasy.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/axetasyband
Releases Worldwide: January 17th, 2025
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