Tuscon, Arizona's Thrash masters Atrophy came to be in 1986 under their original name Heresy but by '87 their name had changed and they'd recorded a 6 song Demo cassette titled Chemical Dependency. That Demo was soon followed up with 1988's 3 song Advanced Promo which was soon followed up with their inclusion on the Metal Forces Presents: Demolition - Scream Your Brains Out compilation that was issued by Chain Reaction Records. At the time the band consisted of vocalist Brian Zimmerman, guitarist Chris Lykins, guitarist Jesse Callin, bassist James Gulotta, and drummer Tim Kelly and their two Demos garnered them the attention of Roadrunner Records which signed the band in 1988. The bands' brand of straightforward technically proficient Thrash Metal was quite a popular thing at the time of their first official full length album, 1988's Socialized Hate, which also featured their new second guitarist Rick Skowron who had replaced the departed Callin. The bands' popularity began to rapidly increase with the record label's backing and promotional efforts, all of which resulted in slots on national and European tours alongside acts such as Sacred Reich, Coroner, and Forced Entry.

1990 saw the band returning to the recording studio for the powerful Violent By Nature album that continued to build on the tightly spectacular playing abilities of the musicians involved. The bands' style of socially aware lyrics and pit worthy shredding was quickly escalating their public profile in the Metal scene when they recorded the pro - Animal Rights PSA and song "Puppies And Friends" (w/ B-side "Too Late To Change") in 1990 as well. However the turn of the decade saw the birth and rise of a new music style taking over and mostly due to that Grunge movement and the subsequent declining record sales, Atrophy were dropped by their label and soon decided to call it quits in 1991.

Several of the band members (Skowron, Kelly, Gulotta) resurrected Atrophy with a different vocalist in 1999 and played some local Arizona reunion shows but soon changed their name to Head Circus and little is known about them after that point. Word is that Atrophy reunited earlier this year (2015) with original members Tim Kelly, Brian Zimmerman, and James Gulotta along with new guitarist Casper Garret and they have an active Facebook Page currently.