ChrysalïD – Back On The Streets

ChrysalïD – Back On The Streets
Self – Released
Release Date: 01/04/22
Running Time: 48:57
Review by Victor Augusto
9/10

The passion for Heavy Metal! Maybe It is the most dated cliche to start a review with, but there are still people who truly believe in it, and I think that it totally represents the album to be reviewed here. To explain this, I need to start by mentioning the name Emannuel Thorsen. This guy is a Brazilian musician that keeps his dream alive and works so hard to make it become possible. Even when he started his musical career in the Brazilian band Hell Bound, he never stopped working on this project ChrysaliD. Now he lives in England and has become the singer of a band called A Fool’s Mockery, (you can also check the review of them here at Ever Metal.) Now, the first work from ChrysaliD has finally seen the light of the day and has hit the world full of incredible musicians from all around the globe.

Ralf Scheepers, Timo Tolkki, Tim Owens and Steve Grimmett. How’s that to start? Is it enough for you to enjoy this album? Well, they are just four names that are part of this album. Every track has a guest musician putting their own identity there.  To make this hard work possible, Emannuel had his long-time partners in crime Fabricio Rocha on guitars and Guilherme Peixoto on bass, both from Hell Bound. He also has his new partner in crime Jase Tyler who plays drum in A Fool’s Mockery. 

The first track after the intro narrated by Rich Daigle is ‘Words To The Wind’, with the powerful voice of Tim Ripper Owens to give even more heaviness to the band. Then we have a masterclass song called ‘Running Against The Time’ with Ralf Scheepers doing a killer job. He also joined the band for a video for this track. Steve Grimmett comes right after on ‘The Passage’ which has an amazing cadence. So far, we’ve had enough name dropping to make any Metal Head lose their breath and we are just on the 4^th track of the album. 

The versatility of the guest musicians goes further. There is a kind of tribute to the local legends of Emannuel’s hometown (Brasília, the capital of Brazil, also my hometown) having people like Fellipe CDC (maybe the most important person that support our local music) Itazil Júnior (Flashover), Adan Hessen (Nightwölf) and many others take part. The difference now is how they make a space for something more aggressive, as you hear on ‘Back on the Streets’, with a mix of guttural and melodic voices provided by musician who play in bands with a different style from ChrysaliD.

It is hard to talk about all the great musicians and songs here. My favorite song is ‘Running Against The Time’, but if I could mention a highlight moment, it is the closing track ‘Hell Bound’ for sure. This song was originally recorded by the Hell Bound band on their debut album. Alongside Emannuel, Fabrício and Guilherme in this version is Tim Owens aggressively singing on it. This would have been a dream coming true for those who have music as a passion, which I’m sure these guys do.

I must mention how incredible their composition work is on this album – to compose so much music that could perfectly receive all the guest musicians they use, crossing so many genres. Sometimes you will have something more Power Metal, with Timo Tolkki’s influence, like in ‘Screams’, but also something very introspective like the acoustic ‘Heart Breaks Free‘ with a beautiful solo by Bill Hudson.  

I am used to be skeptical with projects that so many different people are part of, because I feel that most of these works just sound confusing and without space for every musician to really put their identity on. But here it is different. ChrysaliD is not a young band, despite “Back On The Streets” being their debut album. They have been working on it for more than a decade. As result, you have a mature and brilliant album for lovers of a good Traditional Heavy Metal. 

It is brutal, fast and technical. Everything well balanced so it doesn’t sound too massive. For me, it is a memorable work. Please, take some time to listen to it. 

‘Running Against The Time’ Official Video:

TRACKLISTING:
01. Welcome Back
02. Words to the Wind
03. Running Against The Time
04. The Passage
05. Your Voice Remains
06. Back on the Streets
07. Chrysalïd
08. Screams
09. Heart Breaks Free
10. Freedom Call
11. The End
12. A New Silence
13. Time to Live
14. El Wolf
15. Caprice N°1 In G Minor (For Mallu)
16. Hell Bound (Hell Bound cover)

LINE-UP:
Emannuel Thorsen – Vocals
Jase Tyler – Drums
Fabricio Rocha – Guitars
Guilherme Peixoto – Bass

GUEST MUSICIANS:
Narration on track 1 by Rich Daigle. 
Additional vocals on track 2,10, 16 by Tim Ripper Owens. 
Additional vocals on track 3 by Ralf Scheepers. 
Additional vocals on track 4 by Steve Grimmett. 
Lead vocals on track 5 by Eric Bruce. 
Additional vocals on track 6 by Laura Guldemond, Fellipe CDC, Junior Nnv, Itazil
Junior. 
Additional vocals on track 7 by Olöf Wikstrand. 
Additional vocals on track 8 by Timo Tolkki and Aldeir Donovan.
Additional vocals on track 10 by Polibio Aguiar. 
Additional vocals on track 11 by Marius Danielsen and Leandro Caçoilo. 
Additional vocals on track 13 by Rick Janke. 
Lead vocals on track 14 by Terence Holler. 
Additional vocals on track 14 by Marius Danielsen. 
Lead vocals on track 16 by Ronaldo Silva. 
Guitar solo on track 4 by Timo Tolkki. 
Guitar intro on track 4 by Gustavo Freitas.
Acoustic guitar solo on track 9 by Bill Hudson. 
Acoustic guitar on track 12 by Waldson Farias. 
Guitars on track 15 by Fabricio Rocha. 
Guitars on track 16 by Adan Hessen.
Bass on track 2,6,8,10 by Thomas Hewson. 
Bass on track 4 by Michel Brasil. 
Bass on track 11 by Przemyslaw Przytulo. 
Bass on track 13 by Ricardo Araujo. 
Bass on track 16 by Jean Oliveira. 
Drums on track 6,16 by Fabio Alessandrini.

LINKS:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• Spotify

Disclaimer: This review is solely the property of Victor Augusto and Ever Metal. It is strictly forbidden to copy any part of this review, unless you have the strict permission of both parties. Failure to adhere to this will be treated as plagiarism and will be reported to the relevant authorities.