Enter Chaos
Aura Sense
7.6
Enter Chaos is yet another fine death metal act that spreads their message of doom from that metal breeding pit known as Poland. Now I had heard of this band on some message board way back when and I remember reading that they had a female vocalist. I remember that little fact as I was giving this a spin and had deduced that there must be two vocalists. There are some screams that are conceivably female, and then there are some seriously deep growls. Lo and behold, it turns out that Ms. Martex does it all. I’m talking deep like the guy from Decapitated growls. Deep. I am constantly amazed at how these gravel-throated ladies can keep pushing the limits to summon these ungodly deep roars, but I applaud them. The men in the group hold their end up as well. Drummer L. Rambo seems to know just the right place for a quick fill, all while unleashing short blasts of double-bass fury. The rare and elusive triple-guitar attack works well at times, allowing for harmonized melodies over a crunchy rhythm line, and the trio isn’t afraid to break out the solos.
Aesthetically, this is modern death metal with some melody, as opposed to the typical Swedish melodic death styles. Although, it seems that the band is experiencing a bit of an identity crisis here on Aura Sense. The albums jumps from songs like “Out of Fury”, that just ooze the Meshuggah influence through hypnotic rhythm lines, into heavily industrial tracks, like “Baby the Handgun”. Other times they fall into a slow plodding groove such as bands like Hypocrisy and Amon Amarth. On the whole though, their usual sound is sort of a hybrid, combining melodic harmonies, downtuned triplets of doom, harmonics, dissonant death metal riffage, stop-and-start action, and strong drumming throughout. In my opinion, the best song by far is “One Day Hero”, which features some Heartwork moments. “D.Evil Inside” also has its fair share of fine riffage, that at one point even sound like doom/deathers Rapture. The production is strong, but could stand a little more clarity. The double bass drumming is clicky, but it works. Guitar-wise, the rhythm lines are thick and meaty, but the melodies should be brought out a little more. That’s enough nitpicking out of me.
Aura Sense is a solid album that has been lodged in my car stereo for a few days now, but it could be better. It’s a classic case of an album being “good enough”, without being very memorable. All in all, definitely an enjoyable listen that’s up to snuff with all the other fine bands coming out of Poland, but I can’t imagine this atop my 2004 top ten.
