Label: Nightmare Records / Silverwolf / SPV
Review by Tony Cannella
Italy’s Chaoswave are a 5 person metal band. Their line-up consists of: Giorgia (Female Vocals), Fabio (Male Vocals), Guf (guitars), Michele (Bass) and Raphael (Drums). The band prior to this has already released a debut full-length and a 4-track demo. Having not heard their previous recorded outputs, their new CD “Dead Eye Dreaming” would have to be my introduction to this band.Their style is very aggressive at times, yet also very technical. They describe themselves as a modern metal band and that description definitely fits, yet there are also some elements of thrash metal and progressive metal thrown in as well. The relentless aggressiveness of “10 Years of Denial” just smashes through the speakers and gets us off to a thrashing, frenzied start. Heavy riffing and powerful vocals are the main ingredients here and it is an energetic start. The male vocals of Fabio are clean and he sings the majority of the track with female vocalist Giorgia helping out on the chorus and harmonies. The riffing is very machine gun-like with pounding rhythms backing it all up. Add to that a great guitar solo and you have a strong opening number. Next is “Fork Tongues and Foul Times” and the heaviness continues. The overall pacing of this one is a little slower, yet still very heavy as the the vocals come in together. It has an instantly infectiously, catchy melody to it and the talent and technicality of the band really shines through here. I like the fact that male vocals are not your usual death grunt style vocals. Fabio and Giorgia are both good clean singers and it definitely adds a lot to the songs and the guitar work of Guf is definitely accomplished as well and he adds a virtuosic edge to the songs. “How to Define a Race” begins with an Iron Maiden-ish riff and the song builds from there and just gets heavier and heavier as the opening progresses and it builds into just a heavy. heavy riff. The vocals are delivered with such conviction and force that it is impossible to ignore. The next track “A March for the Dying” has a marching style riff that is perfect for the song as Giorgia‘s vocals come in and she is soon joined by Fabio. “Another Lie to Live in Vain” is a bit of a departure from the other material. It is a 1 and-a-half minute instrumental that sets the table for the next track “Blind Eye Focus”. Other highlights include: “Dead Eye Dream”, “Picture Perfect” and “Two Shadows”. “Rise” and especially “The Evident” are probably my two favorite tracks. “The Evident” especially is probably one of the more unique track on offer here. The U.S. version includes a cover version of the 2Unlimited song “No Limit”. A very interesting choice of covers, but it works and it is actually quite an excellent track. Overall I enjoyed the 12-songs and 60-minutes worth of material that can be found on “Dead Eye Dreaming”. The songs are well written and the production is strong. Chaoswave seems to hit on something special and unique. The songs are heavy, thrashy, chaotic, technical, melodic and definitely listenable. A very good outing.
Rating – 85/100
Tracklist
- 10 Years of Denial
- Fork Tongues and Foul Times
- How to Define a Race
- A March for the Dying
- Another Lie to Live in Vain
- Blind Eyes Focus
- Dead Eye Dream
- Rise
- Picture Perfect
- Two Shadows
- Forest Ending
- The Evident
- No Limit (American Version Bonus Track)
Line Up
- Fabio Carta – Male Vocals
- Giorgia Fadda – Female Vocals
- Henrik “Guf” Rangstrup – Guitars
- Michele Mura – Bass
- Raphael Saini – Drums
Links