Chaos Synopsis - "Gods of Chaos" (Black Legion Productions, 2017; Defense Records, 2017)

Band: Chaos Synopsis
Title: Gods of Chaos
Genre: Death/Thrash Metal
Time: 41.57 min
Release Dates: 25th March 2017 (Black Legion Prod)
                      2017 (Defense Records)
Rating: 75/100











Very interesting is the lyrical concept behind "Gods of Chaos", the 4th album by the Brazilian quartet Chaos Synopsis. In fact, its songs are about chaos gods that belongs to different religions and mythologies, so the album ranges from the classic figure of Satan ("Raising Hell") to lesser known entities like Guabancex ("Storm of Chaos") or Unheegila ("Badlands Terror"). The nicer thing is that, in addition to the lyrics, on the booklet you can find short descriptions about each god. To say the truth, it isn't the first concept album by Chaos Synopsis since, for example, their second album "Art of Killing", that was completely about real serial killers (apart Dexter Morgan from the TV series "Dexter"), so we'll face today a band very attentive to the lyrical side of their songs.

Originally released by the Brazilian label Black Legion Productions, this album was reissued some months later by Defense Records with the addition of a cover after the original 9 songs. In these last ones, you'll mostly find a death/thrash metal surely not so violent and intense like "#SocietyKill" by R.O.D. but able, anyway, to be various enough in order to attract the attention of the maniacs. Specifically, Friggi Mad Beats and co. can range from classic thrash up-tempos to more atmospheric passages, or from groovy moments to some blast-beats here and there (like in "Storm of Chaos", whose the band made also a video to watch below). All this is completed not only by two guitarplayers like Luiz Ferrari and Diego Sanctus that love to spew forth some layered riffs so to reinforce the work of the other one; but also by the growling vocals of Jairo Vaz, that reminds me a lot of a combination between Max Cavalera and Vader's Peter.

Strangely, my favorite song is "Serpent in Flames". I said "strangely" because it's a lot different from the other numbers since, rhythmically speaking, it's focused on mid/slow tempos while, atmospherically speaking, it's dark and sulphorous, so contains some black metal influences and even a very macabre clean guitar part. Plus, there is also the official video of this song! Another great number is "The Beast That Sieges Heaven", in which there are some passages with a lead guitar that plays some oriental melodies, and without forgetting a very angry and wild finale that close the song in a truly effective way. Another song worthy to be mentioned is the same titletrack, a sort of outro that's similar to "Serpent in Flames" and characterized by few vocal lines with some wicked whispers. Instead, the cover is the intimidating "Cross Over Brazil", where Chaos Synopsis plays their own version of a song originally written by their friends Terrordome, 4 "brutal crossover thrashers" (the definition is theirs) from Poland that in 2016 released a split just with Chaos Synopsis and whose singer Uappa Terror, along with Wojciech Michalak (Putrid Evil, Witchfuck), participated as guest vocalist in the song "Black God".

After all these positive considerations, now it's the turn of the negative ones. Nothing really serious but songs like "Opposer of Gods" and "Badlands Terror" don't entirely convince me. Why? The first one because, after a fantastic part with a guitar solo with great melodies, ends through a very violent passage that concludes the song in a too abrupt way, so maybe that passage could be devoloped for a better finale. Instead, "Badlands Terror" is a strange song because its first part is truly wicked and fast while its second one see a mid-tempo with heavy metal melodies and no vocals. All this is musically good but those sides are so different that they seem to form two songs in a single one, so I think they could be better connected in some ways. As you see, the main problem is about the structure of the numbers and the way they are ended but, fortunately, the two mentioned songs don't ruin the good quality of the entire album.

FUCK, I wanted to write a shorter review than the usual instead of writing this long poem! So, "Gods of Chaos" isn't a masterpiece but its death/thrash metal is played through some memorable moments and a good inventiveness, even though Chaos Synopsis, despite their Brazilian roots, don't puke that intense ultra-violence typical of the South American extreme bands. Some news about the band? At first, there is need to say that the next show of Chaos Synopsis will be on 21st October 2018 to support not only Nervochaos but also the legendary Peruvian horde Anal Vomit; and secondly, you have to expect in the next days to come the release of "Unforgettable Shadows", the re-recording of the first demo of the band titled "Garden of Forgotten Shadows" (2006). But now I would like to solve a mistery: in the credits there is a certain Johnny Deadman (that's mentioned in the line-up as "Worshipper of Oblivion") but I can't find some traces about him in no place, so...WHO IS HE?

P.S.: thanks again to Mythrone Promotion to sending me also this album in its physical CD version.

Tracklist:

1 - Raising Hell
2 - Storm of Chaos
3 - Black God
4 - Serpent in Flames
5 - Opposer of Gods
6 - The Beast That Sieges Heaven
7 - Sixteen Scourges
8 - Badlands Terror
9 - Gods of Chaos
10 - Cross Over Brazil (Terrordome cover)

Line-up:

Jairo Vaz - vocals/bass
Luiz Ferrari - guitars
Diego Sanctus - guitars
Friggi Mad Beats - drums
Johnny Deadman - Worshipper of Oblivion (???)

Guests:

Uappa Terror - vocals ("Black God")
Wojciech Michalak - vocals ("Black God")
Jairo Vaz (grandfather of the singer/bassplayer Jairo) - lyrics on "Raising Hell" based on his poetry "Satanic Triad"

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/chaossynopsis
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/chaossynopsis
Defense Records: http://www.defensemerch.com/
Black Legion Productions: http://www.blacklegionprod.com/
Mythrone Promotion: https://www.facebook.com/mythroneprom