Atomic Arena

Description

State of Control is the sophomore album by the American hard rock band Barren Cross, released on Enigma Records in 1988. The album was produced and engineered by John and Dino Elefante at their Pakaderm Studios in Los Alamitos, California.

Hey, it’s a jungle out there, and Junior’s records are full of suicide, drugs, sex, murder, and a whole Pandora’s Box of cultic religions. Into this area strides Christian heavy metal band Barren Cross with ‘Atomic Arena’, its second album (first for Enigma, home of heavenly metal standard-bearers Stryper).

Your humble reviewers ask you to listen to us and listen to us good: this is heavy metal for heavy times. ‘Atomic Arena’ deals with many of the same unsavory themes that fill mainstream metal, but oh, what a difference a Christian world view makes.

Three songs on ‘Atomic Arena’ counsel listeners to say no to suicide. «In the Eye of the Fire» is the most direct: “Just don’t hold it in, call on His name/ Beware of the lie, that it’s happy to die/ Wait out your strife but don’t end your life.”

‘Atomic Arena’ is an in-your-face musical tour-de-force that travels through every imaginable style of heavy metal. There’s even the melodic romantic ballad, «Heaven or Nothing», written by the album’s producers, John and Dino Elefante. But underneath all the power, fury, and bombast is a heart of compassion for today’s dead-end kids. Or as the band sings in «Deadlock», “I’m talking to you as a friend/ And I love you till the very end/ It’s not the way to go, don’t follow those who’ll never know.”

These four metal rockers from California’s Sanctuary Church know what they’re about, and the release of ‘Atomic Arena’ means that many others in musicland may have a chance to know as well. [Steve Rabey and Devlin Donaldson, CCM, May 1988]

2024 Promo, Retroactive Records

By the time 1988’s Atomic Arena was released, fans had already been whipped into a feeding frenzy with the song «Deadlock» being included on the massively popular California Metal Compilation. The song demonstrated a significant leap forward from anything the band had ever done. Fans were demanding more, and it’s hard to believe Barren Cross could have delivered a more perfect album than Atomic Arena. Most noticeably, the songwriting had matured with topics including abortion, suicide, cults and substance abuse – all presented in a skilled manner. Now signed to Enigma Records the band was labelmates with Ratt, Slayer, Poison, and Stryper and MTV’s embrace of the album’s opener, «Imaginary Music» showed that’s exactly where they belonged. Mike Lee’s charismatic Dickinson-influenced lead vocal style was perfect for an album that featured dominating fast-fingered shredding guitar work, resounding monster bass lines, and drums that pummeled the heart and soul of the most dedicated heavy metal fan. Yes, Atomic Arena was special and that’s why the album was voted #11 on Heaven’s Metal Magazine’s Top 100 Christian Metal Albums of All-Time. The 2024 Retroactive Records Atomic Orange vinyl/Deadlock Purple vinyl reissue is a collector’s dream featuring a 12×12 full color insert, and write ups from both Retroactive Records owner, and band vocalist, Michael Lee/Drive! Limited to just 300 units of each color. Few metal albums impacted the scene and the kingdom like State of Control. Enjoy! For fans of Stryper, Iron Maiden, Guardian, Dio!

> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/atomic-arena/162566387)

LP tracklist:

Side One
A1. “Imaginary Music” – 4:26
A2. “Killers Of The Unborn” – 3:28
A3. “In The Eye Of The Fire” – 4:57
A4. “Terrorist Child” – 3:30
A5. “Close To The Edge” – 4:55

Side Two
B1. “Dead Lock” – 4:18
B2. “Cultic Regimes” – 2:48
B3. “Heaven Or Nothing” – 4:10
B4. “King Of Kings” – 3:30
B5. “Living Dead” – 6:50

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by Enigma Records. Re-issued by Restless Records/Rykodisc in 2003. Remastered by Rob Colwell and re-issued as a Limited Edition CD by Retroactive Records ‎in 2020, as a part of the label’s Legends Remastered series (limited to 1000 copies). Mastered for vinyl by Rob Colwell in 2024 and and re-issued as a Limited Edition 12-inch vinyl LP (pressed on both Atomic Orange Vinyl and Deadlock Purple Vinyl) by Retroactive Records ‎in January 2025 (through Limited Run Vinyl/Limited Run Music), as a part of the label’s Legends Remastered series (limited to 300 copies of each color). Re-issued on CD by Dissonance Productions in February 2025 together with State of Control, housed in a double CD digipak (featuring exclusive liner notes from writer Kevin Stewart-Panko who conducted a new in-depth interview with singer Mike Lee).

Atomic Arena, Remastered and pressed on both Atomic Orange Vinyl and Deadlock Purple Vinyl, Retroactive Records 2025