I’ll admit: when I saw the genre classification that accompanied Chaos Echoes‘ new album, Transient, I was intrigued and perplexed all at once. The tag? “Avant-garde death metal.” Now, alongside metal, I’m also a fan of classic, free-form jazz—true avant-garde stuff, if you will—so I’m familiar with what this tag means and what it encompasses. But I’d never seen it used in conjunction with death metal, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. After listening to this thing several times, though, I can honestly say this is an instance where the shoe actually fits, and the label is entirely appropriate.
Chaos Echoes have dealt with death and spiritualism on a number of occasions in their past material, and they don’t stray far from that on this release, evident with some of the song titles and of course the striking cover art. There are three haunting, ambient tracks included after each aggressive excursion—aptly titled “Interzone” IV, V and VI. Even as intermissions, they hardly provide any semblance of a break or rest. Rather, they’re there to build the tension and evoke the kind of feeling you get in a horror movie, where the end seems to approach some unsuspecting soul at every turn.
“Senses of the Nonexistent” and “Advent of My Genesis” each open with varying lengths of drone atmospherics that build and build to the crescendo of heavy death/doom, crawling at a snail’s pace with some unsettling vocals. “Kyorakushugi” is the buzzsaw of the album, with its composition mostly made up of well-executed black metal until the end of the track hits and we find our first glaring evidence of the band’s avant-garde side. The sheer loudness of the track fades into odd time signature drumming and guitars that seem to leap out of nowhere from your left ear to your right, then to both, only to disappear instantly and leave you wondering what’s next. This portion of the track is where my free-form jazz ears perked up.
Album closer “Soul Ruiner” puts everything we’ve heard to this point together in one big loud package. The experimentation, ambience, and traditional death and black metal influences all take a twisting journey to create one of the most ambitious tracks I’ve heard in recent memory. It’s the perfect ending to an album wrought with experimentalism and extremes—both loud and soft.
Transient is not an album for the casual listener, but nor is it for anyone looking for a good highlight track or two to workout to. This album demands a complete and uninterrupted hour to fully absorb. Of course, with the complexity on display throughout, you may still be discovering new arrangements or trying to make sense of things after one, two or even ten spins. But it’s hard not to enjoy this journey of understanding. For me, it’s exciting for a metal album to share the same head space as freak-out jazz, and with this release, Chaos Echoes shows a lot of promise for the future.
-Josh
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