2007-07-19
Kaos play something akin to current Bay Area thrash, meaning – they are from the US's Bay Area, and they play fast and furious thrash. But still, it's not exactly your average 80's thrash metal here.
Musically the band comes off like a combination of some classic thrash riffs, with a strong feel of crossover, the approach and aggression leans more towards
D.R.I and
Pro-Pain than to
Testament and
Death Angel. Another thing is the vocals, hard core territory all the way. So it's not exactly Bay Area thrash the way we remember it, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t good.
Actually, the album has several things working for it, the musicianship is strong, solid guitar riffs, some fine grooves, the drumming is very impressive, and some of the songs are really good. The sound stands out as well, it manages to bring forth all of the band's strengths and sounds sharp and clean, yet not overly polished.
The things I didn't like? The vocals I was more ambivalent about, though they certainly carry enough aggression and strength, in some tracks it felt a bit like overkill. While most of the music is thrash, they come off as angry hardcore vocals that take things a bit too far sometimes. The opener – The Rage Of War is one example. In the second track – Burning Scars, they actually tone down a bit, and sound much better.
Another things is that there are some tracks that lack a stronger hook, while most of the songs work just fine, there are some that I felt could have used a strong hook riff to give them an added strength.
Still, in the overall picture, this band manages to impress, they have the technical ability and the pure stamina to carry such music well, they just need to straighten out a few creases and all will be peachy next time.
Alon Miasnikov
