2007-09-04
The cover artwork for New York's Full Blown Chaos may look like your latest German power metal release, but actually, this is metallic hardcore in thrash mode. Think mainly Hatebreed here, the sound is quite similar; still, these guys have some surprises up their sleeves.
The first thing that hits you when the first track – "Firefight" – bursts out through the speakers, is that the sound is great, Biohazard's Billy Graziadei took care of that. The second thing is – this is aggressive. The song's speed and aggression are impressive. And the third – this vocalist is a killer, the man has a voice that could sit in well in both hardcore and extreme metal, he sounds like a pissed off Phil Anselmo, with several additional pounds of aggression.
The surprise comes in the mid-section of the track, some smart riffing and a slowdown of the song's relentless attack, and suddenly we understand this band makes music, not just corpses. The combination of the initial thrashy aggression with the heavier mid-section is bloody impressive.
It continues with the second cut - "The Hard Goodbye" starts out with a simplistic, bare-knuckled fast riff, but then it slows down, a more thrash-like riff sets in, and it all makes sense. These guys manage to combine Hatebreed-style metallic hardcore with plenty of classic crossover thrash, and it just works.
One of my favorite tracks here is the next one – "Halos For Heroes", a thrashing attack of the most aggressive kind. Great sing along chorus, a more dynamic and slightly melodic vocal approach, a melodic lead, and a short blast beat; this is just perfectly made, incorporating aggression and catchiness perfectly. The band's decision not to work hindered by a specific genre only proves itself here. "Fail Like A Champ" again demonstrates just how fierce are the vocals here, the guy could sing in a death metal band any day.
So, to surmise, just get off your asses and get this one, Pantera and Hatebreed mixed up together and put through the grinder. The result is great.
Alon Miasnikov
