Caliber 666
Blood Fueled Chaos
6.7
Caliber 666 is from Sweden. They had the cajones to put “666” in their name--most likely to imply that they hit with the force of one giant goddamned ammunition round (thankee, Mr. Ray). They also had the pull to get Matti Karki (Dismember) and LG Petrov (Entombed) to provide guest vocals on debut Blood Fueled Chaos. Yessirree, Caliber 666 plays Swedish fucking death metal. And they mostly do a damn-faithful job of it. Mostly.
Why only mostly faithful? Because Caliber 666 uses the buzzsaw scene as merely a root source, expanding upon it with influences from both inside and outside of their homeland. The trudging grooves, “slimy-Slayer” riffs, and thickly-delivered tremolo work are certainly indicative of classic Stockholm (Dismember, Unleashed et al), but at times the grooves slow to Floridian paces, and the tremolo riffs occasionally add a blackened touch, if only for brief passages. Skilled, blast-friendly drumming, a half-Sunlight Studios guitar production, and even a small Immolation vibe (“Incineration”) complete the picture.
While nearly every riff is at least entertaining, and many are quite the neck-wreckers, the band struggles a bit at the art of arrangement. Certain songs feel pieced-together, with odd transitions and awkwardly-juxtaposed sections. Engaging riffs and passages are often abandoned in order to introduce a new idea, stuffing songs with too many themes as opposed to following Bloodbath’s old motto of “brutality comes through simplicity.” This is not to imply that anything is wrong with complexity, but Caliber 666 comes up short when using it to their advantage. The fact that “The Worthless” (the tune with LG) is among the most classically Stockholm in nature and one of the album’s best tracks only furthers this impression.
Still, most of Blood Fueled Chaos maintains its entertainment level by way of the band’s obvious ballsy charisma, and it's more than adequate to feed the needs of fans who aren’t easily Swedishly satiated. Caliber 666 knows how to construct a cutthroat riff and megaton groove; now they just need to trim some fat in the interest of forging truly memorable tracks. (Smattering the whole mess with guitar solos wouldn’t hurt either.) An essential piece to the Swedish death metal puzzle--like say, Entrails--this is not, but in spite of the faults, it is a promising debut.
