Chaos

Symphonic death metal rarely seems to realize its full potential, at least in practice. There is something about the pulverising gait of the riffs and overall elementary song construction that clashes with the opulent excess of programmed orchestrations. However, sharing much of the same stylistic real estate is melodeath, which when inserted into the modus operandi becomes far more interesting in a synergistic sense. This versatility is a hallmark of melodic death metal and Cyprus' Khrysaor are the next band to attempt this fusion, albeit already with some notches in their collective belt. Chaos is merely the band's first attempted at a concerted full-length. The Pro-Tools is strong with this one, with a sterile and antiseptic sounding sonic palate; one that many of these bands share. Apparently it doesn't take that many resources to crank out an album that sounds patently massive, for good or ill.

On the melodeath side of the equation, I am reminded of Skyfire, especially concerning the vocals. When all of these disparate elements line up in a harmonic manner, a sound redolent of Esoteric is evoked. But unlike my favorite Swedes, Khrysaor struggle finding consistent balance in a manner eerily similar to Finland's Enthring. It just doesn't feel like the band consistently takes advantage of the elements at their disposal, instead leaning heavily on the orchestrations to dictate both tone and velocity. It's an energetic hybrid in theory, but it almost always seems like bands are consciously truncating the strength of the riffs in favor of the symphonic padding. The latter can't hog up too many resources, because it can never satisfy the aural punishment metalheads are looking for, yet here we have another band who find themselves in a pickle by overemphasizing only one particular constituent of the equation.

Now to their credit, Khrysaor are better at most when it comes to satisfying the epic scope required by the (presumably) deep, grand narrative. Lyrics are overall more of the same abstract, meaningless crap most of us have become numb too over the years, so no harm or foul there. Regardless, the cinematic breadth of the stinging orchestral cues and meandering string ensemble tangents is certainly impressive in isolation. Certain songs strike an acceptable balance, like the steady mid-paced rollicking "The Great Web," which feels as heavy as anything else on Chaos. Still, the lack of abrasion and verisimilitude dogs the entire experience. Moments like the brooding acoustic opening of 'Murderers," set such a telling contrast. It feels much more rewarding to listen to as opposed to the suffocating, bloated remainder.

Khrysaor are far from a bad band, but I can't think of any qualities that truly set them above the majority of their peers. Just like Enthring, the final product sounds surprisingly lifeless and manufactured. Songs are just wall-to-wall tension and feel like a build up to a payoff that is never fully realized. Leads are scarce overall, and the rhythm guitars lack presence in the mix. Chaos sounds vivacious, but it comes off as empty hand-waving and distraction of style over actual substance. If you are big on symphonic death metal, maybe check it out on Bandcamp. I can't say this is worth much more than a glancing over.