Comprising the Live demo, the Recognition demo, and August 1990's rehearsal, Archive I makes up the bulk of Dr. Shrinker's pre-breakup output. The first thing that must be taken into account is the age of the source tapes and the presumed abuse that they may have suffered over the years. For instance, after the first four seconds of the first track, the sound fades, and the listener must crank the volume or the music will be lost. With that in mind, the Live demo sees Dr. Shrinker thrashing like mad in front of a small, but enthused crowd. This very vocal forward mix is arguably the most even of the compilation, and provides a nice representation of Dr. Shrinker's sound. Blasting through seven tracks of early, thrashy, death fury, the band bridges the gap between the harder ends of thrash and the newer, more vile death beginnings. The highlight here, though, is the stage banter. After grim shrieking and screaming, the metal gives way to a soft spoken, Midwestern sweetheart just having fun bringing metal and horror to the world. The following five tracks come from the Recognition demo, and give the listener a better look at Dr. Shrinker's chops. Recorded a tad bass heavy, Recognition opens up the curtain, and shows Dr. Shrinker's talents...along with a couple of semi-wonky bits. Grim, fast, and purely metal, had Recognition been properly recorded, it would be a genre classic right along side early albums like Scream Bloody Gore and Slowly We Rot. It becomes obvious to the listener just how much of an impact Dr. Shrinker would have had if they had been given proper exposure through a record deal. Despite their talent, their August 1990 rehearsal falls flat due to a poor recording. The music sounds great, but the ever present Dr. Shrinker vocals are relegated to a sock drawer, and the band isn't represented at its most potent. It's unfortunate, too, as the guitar, bass, and drum are firing on all cylinders. These seven tracks are early death mastery, and shamefully weren't properly preserved. While this would have become the first Dr. Shrinker album, it makes one even more woeful that this record deal never came to fruition, and these Milwaukee metalheads decided to call it quits.

Over the past few years, Dr. Shrinker has re-emerged and brought their act back to the now eager masses. While their sound may have changed over time, their love of metal has remained consistent, and any fan of metal's early days would do well by picking up Archive I. While more of a curio piece for a collector than an every day thrasher, Nuclear War Now! has done a great job of putting together this rare, early death time capsule.