Chaos Over Cosmos – The Silver Lining Between The Stars
Chaos Over Cosmos – The Silver Lining Between The Stars
Self-Released
Release Date: 01/08/2021
Running Time: 35:17
Review by Simon Black
9/10
I had the opportunity to review the debut record for these guys last year elsewhere and was rather gobsmacked by the technical proficiency of “The Ultimate Multiverse”. Although this was more of a compilation of previous work to date, the fact that this entire project is the output of two chaps – one in Poland doing all the instrumental work, the other in the USA on vocals who have yet to meet face to face was quite formidable. This was quite novel at the time, as at this point in 2020 bands were still either releasing or sitting on product recorded pre-pandemic and had only really just started to come round to the idea that they needed to start working in a different way for the foreseeable future. The Chaos boys are well ahead of that curve and this second album following so shortly afterwards shows them having well and truly nailed the techniques needed to function in a remote delivery model.
Opener ‘Violent Equilibrium’ is not a track that is ever going to be played live, as to be honest I can’t see that ever happening – partly because no-one really wants to see two chaps playing guitar and vocals over a backing track, but mostly due to the fact that some of this stuff is unplayable with the technical limitations of most drummers only having the two arms and two legs. At ten minutes and forty-seven seconds of running time, all with programmed double bass drum rhythms at a speed that no human being could achieve for more than thirty seconds, this is however a display in guitar virtuosity par exemplar. It’s well over five minutes in before we get any vocals either, by which point Rafal Bowman’s guitar work has so blown you away that you are hooked.
Overall, musically, this is a noticeably much heavier recording than their debut, but slightly less accessible, although, technically this is no less proficient – more so if anything. The emphasis for this sophomore overall is more Technical Melo-Death and slightly less of the more Melo-Progressive – particularly in the vocal department, with the exception of the closer ‘The Sins Between The Stars’, which with its slower and more thoughtful pace balances these two elements very well. I guess a big contributor to the heavier, more extreme dominance of vocals style is the fact that Bowman has changed singers again, but either way K.C. Lyon’s style does suit this slightly amended approach perfectly, even though I personally prefer it when the two styles are more evenly balanced. Nonetheless, a blisteringly fantastic performance is delivered once again.
“The Silver Lining Between The Stars” (Full Album)
TRACKLISTING:
01. Violent Equilibrium
02. The Last Man in Orbit
03. Eternal Return
04. Control ZED
05. The Sins Between the Stars
LINE-UP:
K.C. Lyon – Vocals, Lyrics, Songwriting
Rafal Bowman – Guitars, Synths, Drum programming, Songwriting
LINKS:
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