Chaoswave

Dead Eye Dreaming

Written by: PP on 11/03/2009 14:07:08

Chaoswave have two vocalists, one male and one female, but don't make the mistake of assuming these guys have anything to do with the gothic rock/metal scene, because they don't, although they are marketed as an aggressive version of fellow Italians Lacuna Coil, or alternatively as a perfect blend between the said band and Nevermore. Even though I'm no expert on either band, that statement still makes me go "Hmm?", because Lacuna Coil does belong to the loathed gothic rock genre (even if they're one of the best bands in it), and Nevermore are one of the most critically acclaimed American metal bands. As a result, I've been spinning this release a few extra times to fully understand whether or not that description of "Dead Eye Dreaming" is accurate, and despite my best efforts, I still haven't come into an effective conclusion, but here's my best shot.

The band may have a female vocalist, but I fail to see any connection to Lacuna Coil. First of all, she doesn't sing in the annoying crystal clear, silky pitch somewhere high above the instruments, and instead has a stronger, medium-pitch clean voice that blends in with the thrashy riffs and great solos. So that's already a no-no for any gothic reference. Then we have the male vocalist, who sings in a rather similar pitch, which actually kind of reminds me of the dude in Volbeat in that his voice sounds a bit unusual albeit highly melodic. Where's the Lacuna Coil sound in that? There's a couple of excellent choruses on the record, but none of them really remind me of Nevermore or Lacuna Coil. In fact, I have absolutely no idea what they remind me of, so lets just call them original, or just 'modern metal' as the band likes to classify themselves as, although a progressive metal categorization might be more warranted in places.

Instrumentally, the band are equally hard to place as well. In places I do recognize a bit of Nevermore style riffage, but that could be just one of the three guest leads by ex-Nevermore guitarist Steve Smyth on the album. My guess is he's involved on "10 Years Of Denial", "How To Define A Race" and potentially "Rise", as these are easily the most interesting tracks on the disc (though there are some good ones towards the end as well). Especially the first two have extremely good choruses, they hit you like the perfect storm and you can't resist singing along to them or humming the melody if you don't know the lyrics. Interestingly enough, the latter is also my biggest problem with "Dead Eye Dreaming". There are so many excellent parts where you're certain that Chaoswave will be the 'next big thing' in the progressive metal scene, but it's frustrating to find equally many nothingsaying parts. Maybe the problem is that the band are a little too varied, as even after 10-15 listens of the record, I'm still trying to find and remember the specific moments to cling on from the record. Nevertheless, there's lots of potential here, and a couple of excellent songs as well, and I have a satisfied feeling each time I finish listening to the record, so I see no reason to grade this lower than a

7

Download: 10 Years Of Denial, How To Define A Race
For the fans of: Nevermore, Lacuna Coil, To-Mera, Zero Hour
Listen: Myspace

Release date 06.03.2009
Silverwolf Productions

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