Life being what’s it’s been as of late, meaning the last several years, putting on music that is barbaric and completely here to unhinge you and everyone else around you is something that becomes more welcome by the passing rotten day. Death metal always comes to the rescue in those times, and holy shit, if it hasn’t been there to clean up our blood and tears once again.
I don’t imagine Danish death machine Chaotian had calming nerves in mind when they went into business, put out a few well-respected smaller releases, and planted the seeds for their destructive debut offering “Effigies of Obsolescence,” but here we are, using their music as catharsis. Just the way it wasn’t intended. Anyway, everything comes apart and destroys with shrapnel on this seven-track bruiser, a record that goes full throttle for your throat and refuses to relent. The band—vocalist/guitarist Søren Willatzen, bassist Jonas Grønborg, drummer/vocalist Andreas Nordgreen—make the most of the path of devastation they’re on, leaving bodies and ashes behind, their concern for who they’ve maimed registering at an all-time low.
“Gangrene Dream” starts the record with eerie noises spreading and a mysterious void opening before the hammers drop, and the bass absolutely melts. The playing chugs and smears while the growls devour you alive, the guitars frying your brain waves. The atmosphere is humid and nasty, the guitars firing off as the earth beneath you crumbles. “Into Megatopheth” is a gargantuan force, the growls crushing as the guitar work makes your blood race. The aura is molten and cataclysmic, the drums jackhammer, and misery enters hell, pummeling to the end. The title cut brings horrific screams and guitars unloading all their weight as the pace explodes. The leads are blinding as the tempo warps time, tangling with vicious power as the blood drains completely.
“Adipocere Feast” lights up immediately and packs a thrashy edge, the deep growls feeling seismic and dangerous. Guitars catch fire as the band unleashes panic and relentless power that lasts until it finally expires. “Etched Shadows” feels doomy as hell at the start, splattering with tenacity and bringing infernal chaos. The striking slows as a gloomy section sinks in, and then the hellish wails crawl into the blood, sending off jolts that scorch the sky. “Fustuarium” is an onslaught that packs bending bass and sooty guitars that add to the bruising. The low end shows muscle, making things uglier and more oppressive, scathing vocals leaving burns on your chest. Closer “Festering Carcinolith” stabs into the scene as the guitars explode, and the mauling tempo grabs you by the throat. There’s no relent whatsoever, the bass snarls, and the playing chugs with ferocity, slowly bleeding away and leaving broken bodies behind.
Chaotian make their case for violence early and often on their smothering debut record “Effigies of Obsolescence,” a destructive and evident display of their brand of death metal madness. This record maims over and over again, and there’s zero downtime on this thing as you’re put to the test from beginning to end. This Danish force is the real deal, and this is a striking first display that will knock you on your ass.
For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/ChaotianOfficial
To buy the album, go here: https://www.darkdescentrecords.com/shop/
Or here: https://www.mesacounojo.com/vinyl-cds-merch/
For more on the label, go here: https://darkdescentrecords.bandcamp.com/
And here: https://www.mesacounojo.com/
Meat Mead Metal 