Out Now
Every so often I actually get a chance to listen to and appreciate new music that comes across my desk.
Not because of a lack of quality – far from it – but more so out of time. As in I never have any.
But sometimes you have to make time, especially when something rolls out of the speakers with as much intent and awesomeness as Chaoseum’s latest track Unreal.
It sparked my interest immediately, so much so that I replied straight away and requested the new album so I could fully immerse myself in it.
These guys aren’t a new band by any means, it’s just the first time their music has fallen on these delicate ears.
Chaoseum have already released a couple of albums, gathered a shit ton of streams and played with bands such as Five Finger Death Punch and Sabaton. Which all sounds sensational but means fuck all if these guys can’t deliver when it matters, which is what I set out to discover when I turned all the phones off and locked the doors long enough to sit through their new album The Third Eye, which is out now.
The first track is called I, Sexy Zombie, and being the type of guy who can find beauty in anything I told myself not to prejudge.
After all, zombies need loving too…
A swirling sound fills the void as a winding and ambient intro soon gives way to a dull thud of the kicks and the pace gradually intensifies before vocalist CK Smile lets out an almighty bellow and the carnage begins!
This track has it all. Anger, foreboding, tempo changes, screams, growls, cleans, and precision.
There is something familiar about the music, but these days when isn’t there?
It’s kind of Murderdolls meets Mushroomhead meets Korn meets Chaoseum. A quick troll of the net before listening to this album shed some light on Chaoseum’s recent past and some people’s insistence to call them out for sounding a little too similar to a small band by the name of Korn and while there are definitely strong nods of respect and influence inherent in the opening track it is by no means a blatant rip-off.
And, let’s face it if you want to be the best you have to respect the best and I can think of far worse examples to base your sound around than the lads from Korn. And that’s hopefully the last reference I will allow myself to make because I’m not bothered. And if you are then maybe you should spit the dummy out now and replace it with your thumb and start sucking.
Because I don’t give a shit. And I’m sure Chaoseum doesn’t either.
Unreal kicks in about as classically Nu-Metal as you can get, the familiar chugging of guitars over a swirling sonic landscape promising a massive breakdown that… doesn’t deliver.
This is a more measured and deliberate track, offset by moments of frenzied and sporadic attack that remind us we are here to tear shit up.
Vocally, Smile does channel a chap by the name of Mr. Davis strongly at times, but, again, you can’t help who you sound like can you?
And he does it fucken well. There’s enough of his own DNA smeared across the delivery that elevates Unreal into more than another Nu-Metal woah is me type track.
This is Nu-Metal for the 2020s, and it’s not here to fuck around.
The guitars are huge and the solos even more so, delivering a hauntingly destructive wave of malevolence that seems to not know itself where it is going at times.
And that’s a good thing.
Dance On My Grave splutters to life with the sounds of a radio trying to tune to a station before the high hats wince menacingly and the music builds to a crescendo that has nowhere to go but out. The guitars swirl and tease before Smile proclaims “I feel better now,” which makes me happy. Because when the vocalist is happy then the world suddenly seems a more sinister place.
Work that out.
There’s so much of what is beautiful about Nu-Metal and its subsequent movements at play here with just about any band from that era of decadence lending their stamp at various junctures. It in turn creates a sporadic cross-pollination of the bastard sons of a bastard genre that results in the sonic creation of the sum of many musical parts.
The Third Eye sweeps majestically into earshot next, an almost Egyptian-style classical guitar piece presiding over chanting interludes that conjure visions of the Middle East.
Without the explosions.
But I’m sure they aren’t too far away judging by what has transpired already.
It’s a strange musical piece that ends abruptly, but it did allow a few brief moments of respite.
The guitars start niggling at each other once more to introduce Fly Away, which has that whimsical sort of feel to it.
Maybe we are still on the magic carpet from the last scene? Whatever it’s still a well-balanced track that highlights the calmer side of Chaoseum without selling their soul completely.
My Wonderland sounds like it could have a fairytale ending, but that notion is soon put to rest as Smile laughs in an evil sort of psycho circus way before putting on his cleans and marching into battle. Once more there is clever use of spoken word haphazardly inserted between the mellower moments and the inevitable chaos which elevates each piece into yet another musical journey.
This track is still heavy as fuck at its core but manages to bluff its way through as possibly the album’s tender gooey love song, but I’m fucked if I know either way. It doesn’t sound like he is crying or bowing down to impure thoughts so carry on.
As the song builds to a climax it seems Smile has read my mind somewhat as he repeats the line “I wasn’t made for this,” over and over. But he can get away with it. That’s the beauty of being the boss, isn’t it?
Welcome Home stirs restlessly with the sounds of fuck knows what before the guitars chugg and heavy breathing fills the void. The drums kick in as if Greg Turini also wants to inform Smile that he “wasn’t made for this” but he has the last laugh again by pulling the track into line and into a rhythmic pulse that meanders beneath what sounds like a happy homecoming. There’s no anger or malice here so let’s just assume the returning guest is genuinely welcome.
At about the 4-minute mark it seems Smile has changed his mind and old mate isn’t as welcome as initially thought as the harsh vocals spit venom into the equation and the music grinds to a halt momentarily before resuming with more aggression and attitude.
It seems the welcome mat has been withdrawn, and I, for one, couldn’t be happier.
Until The End is a stark reminder that we are almost to that point of the album, but Chaoseum aren’t done with us yet.
Smile tells us he doesn’t care about the weather and seems intent to let everyone know by virtue of another slower number that maybe should have followed the previous occupant out the door.
The mellower side of Chaoseum isn’t necessarily bad, but it also robs them of that angst that made them so enticing in the first place. Fair call, we all have things in our life that we want to whinge about, but you can yell those problems at the world. You don’t have to soften the blow.
Maybe I have lost touch with my sensitive side, I don’t know.
Sanctum Cinerem kicks the proverbials straight up, the underlying heaviness laying the platform for what surely has to be another heavier number…
Which it isn’t initially, but it’s also not a bitchy sounding cry for acceptance. You can almost feel the threat of imminent destruction bubbling away underneath the harmonious cleans but so far, it’s just another chance to tease.
And bang. There it goes. Smile is winding himself up for confrontation, and you can sense the rest of the band are struggling to hold back.
The drum rolls intensify just as Smile starts to scream at whatever is ailing him and the breakdown is worthy of the wait. It’s more subtle than forceful but causes enough ripples in the song’s continuity that the air of suppression once more threatens the status quo.
And who doesn’t love an underlying sense of tension with their breakfast?
What If starts with the sounds of a random guy giving his jowls a workout before Chaoseum delve back into their bag of tricks to send The Third Eye scratching and clawing into the abyss rather than skipping its way to a satisfactory conclusion.
There are moments of musical brilliance on offer over the course of The Third Eye, and maybe I’m being a touch too judgmental when it comes to the admittedly not too many softer moments of metal beauty.
Apparently, one needs to have a splattering of Yin with their Yang…
