REVIEW: INSIDEAD - Chaos ElecDead

 

INSIDEAD - Chaos ElecDead (2011)

Massacre Records

If this is thrash metal, then I am a belly dancer…

It is not particularly easy to place Chaos ElecDead under a single genre heading, and even the “modern thrash metal” tag attached to the album seems to describe only part of what INSIDEAD are attempting. This is not necessarily a problem in itself. After all, refusing to follow a strict genre formula can sometimes lead to interesting and genuinely individual results. The difficulty here is that the mixture does not ultimately develop into a distinctive identity.

INSIDEAD combine elements of groove metal, alternative metal/rock, modern thrash and the melodic death/thrash approach associated with the Gothenburg scene. There are also moments where the harsher vocals recall bands such as EKTOMORF and SEPULTURA, while the arrangements occasionally move towards the metalcore/deathcore vocabulary that was becoming increasingly prominent when the album was recorded. The result is therefore less a clearly defined style than a collection of contemporary metal influences brought together within the same framework.

The problem is not that the band crosses stylistic boundaries. The problem is that the individual elements rarely come together in a way that gives the songs a strong personality of their own. There are some good riffs, aggressive passages, melodic ideas and occasional solos, but too many of these moments feel interchangeable rather than part of a clearly recognizable INSIDEAD sound. The album can certainly be energetic, but energy alone does not necessarily create memorable songwriting.

This becomes more apparent as Chaos ElecDead progresses. Several songs rely on similar rhythmic and vocal approaches, and the constant movement between heavier, melodic and more modern sections does not always provide the variety one might expect. Instead, much of the album eventually feels repetitive and monotonous. Tracks such as “No I.D.”, “Blood 4 Blood” and the title track contain ideas that could have formed the basis of stronger compositions, but these moments are not consistently developed into songs with enough character to remain memorable.

And this is perhaps the most frustrating aspect of the album. INSIDEAD were clearly not inexperienced musicians. The band had been active for years before Chaos ElecDead, had already released a promo CD, and had built considerable live experience, including appearances at Rockwave Festival and Wacken Open Air after winning the Wacken Metal Battle competition in 2009. The debut was also given a professional production, with R.D. Liapakis handling production and mixing/mastering duties alongside Christian Schmid at Prophecy and Music Factory Studios in Germany.

Released by Massacre Records on April 29, 2011, Chaos ElecDead contains nine songs and runs for roughly 36 minutes. The production gives the material the necessary weight and clarity, and the musicians are obviously capable of handling the technical demands of the music. In fact, contemporary reviews also pointed out the band's competent instrumental work and the presence of some effective riffs and choruses.

Unfortunately, good musicianship and a polished production cannot compensate for the lack of a convincing overall direction. The album sounds like a band still searching for the precise point where its various influences should meet. That search produces a few worthwhile ideas, but too often the ideas remain just that—ideas—rather than becoming compositions with a strong and individual identity.

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with attempting to combine different generations of metal, but Chaos ElecDead illustrates the danger of trying to accommodate too many influences without establishing a sufficiently distinctive musical personality. For me, the few good ideas are ultimately buried beneath a result that is confusing, repetitive and far too typical of the modern metal landscape of its time.

Not an album I would return to.

Nick Parastatidis