Artist: Chaosbreed
Label: Olympic Recordings
Release Date: 5/18/04
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Title: Brutal Artist: Chaosbreed Label: Olympic Recordings Release Date: 5/18/04 |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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4 | ||
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Abyss's Review:
While they don't sound much like them, these guys are basically another Bloodbath, namely a 'super'group of established musicians getting together to do an old school album. Chaosbreed is comprised of members and ex-members of Sentenced, Amorphis, Gandalf, Moonsorrow and others, and it is quite evident they're making an attempt to recapture the fabled "Sunlight sound" era of Scandinavian death metal. This I find interesting, considering many of their former bands turned their back on death metal through the mid-90s and beyond.Probably most interesting, for me anyway, is ex-Sentenced growler Taneli Jarva's return to vocals. I was a huge fan of early Sentenced, and was very disappointed when they completely purged their sound of harsh vocals. I continued to enjoy their sound, I just wish they kept some of the heavier aspects intact. With this in mind, I'm a little dissatisfied with Taneli's performance here. It isn't that he's particularly bad, he's just not all that remarkable, which is pretty deflating for a fan with expectations.
"One word review: Okay." But Taneli's not the only problem with this album. While it would be stupid for me to say this material isn't all that original (it is an attempt at a throwback after all), I am disappointed in its inability to shine. After all, if you put an all-star group together, one expects (and rightfully so) a result worthy of their collective talent. Let's face it, no one watches the Home Run Derby to see a pitcher's battle. And unfortunately, Brutal is just a solid record, nothing more. It presents capable, but less then stellar, mid-tempo death metal for the most part, and while I honestly like a few of these songs a great deal, I'd be lying if I said this came even remotely close to the recent output by Bloodbath and Grave. They do change things up a couple of times by slowing the tempo down to a plodding, dirge-y, almost doom-like groove-allowing the listener to suffocate beneath the weight of the music - and these parts spark my interest, but at the same time, they aren't compelling enough to get me fully psyched.
This is a pretty good death metal album, but it is far from mandatory. It's pretty much just for fanatic fans of the genre. One word review: Okay.
Death's Review:
This Finnish band has stolen Abyss' "one word review" gimmick and just made it their title! Seriously though, in the tradition of Bloodbath and others, we have another metal "supergroup" dedicated to bringing back classic styles. For Chaosbreed, it is indeed the old, Entomed-style Swedish metal, but they also bring a clear old Slayer worship to the table too. Thus, the album opens with a riff that sounds like the missing link between Show No Mercy and Hell Awaits (or is that link simply Haunting the Chapel?), blazing with a solo over a rumbling old-school riff. It kind of works, and while you've heard it all before, you may be down with this one anyway since this is classic metal created by metalheads for metalheads, without any pretension.
"This is classic metal created by metalheads for metalheads, without any pretension." I don't really like the singer that much though. He serves his purpose, but his style just isn't to my taste (don't worry, it is nothing too strange or anything, just subtle intonations). As for the rest of it, it really just comes down to the old "so much metal, so little time" adage. There's nothing wrong here, in fact, seeing it live might be pretty cool. But in the end this lands as an average to average-plus metal album. It is cool to hear the members of these other bands (Amorphis, Sentenced, etc.) that have evolved their core sound getting back to their old-school roots, but this is definitely not essential.
Hel's Review:
This is exactly the kind of music I want to hear members and ex-members of Amorphis, Sentenced, Gandalf, and Moonsorrow making. Getting back to their old-school roots, these boys have teamed up to let out their pent up aggression. Though this is technically a follow up the their EP Unleashed Carnage, owners of that disc will notice that three of those five tracks show up on here as well. I was mildly disappointed by this, as it whittled the tracks that were new to me down to seven, but still, I understand how these things go, and at least they didn’t recycle all five.
"If you’re only looking for bands that are novel and new, Chaosbreed isn’t even trying to appeal to you, so you’re barking up the wrong tree." Before you go jumping up on your soapbox to declare that Chaosbreed ripped off bands X, Y, and Z, please keep in mind that recreating the sounds of these classic bands is what they were trying to do. In light of this, of course you are going to be reminded of those other bands. “Faces of Death” does indeed sound an awful lot like Slayer, but then, they have basically admitted that was what they are going for. So how mad about it can you really be? In fact, you must admit they do an awfully good job of it.
If you’ve been craving a dose of classic, old-school death metal, then Chaosbreed is the band you’ve been looking for. If you’re only looking for bands that are novel and new, Chaosbreed isn’t even trying to appeal to you, so you’re barking up the wrong tree. They have done an admirable job of accomplishing what they have set out to do. I’ve enjoyed taking a trip down memory lane with them, and recommend you all do the same.
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