2013
Formed in 2008, with a self-titled, 2011 demo preceding this album, Ashes Of Chaos (cool name for a band) are a 5-piece Italian metal band. From 2008-2009 they were known as Mind Blast (per the Metal Archives), which isn't all that bad of a band name either. And of course, just like thousands of metal bands before them, they first started off by playing cover tunes before branching out to play their own material. Oh yeah, their also the second to the last promo sent to me from from the fine folks behind Logic(il)Logic Records. For what it's worth and all. It does bring up one question though. Have I saved one of the best promos for last then? Maybe. Let's look at a few other things first. Judging the band on their cover art would normally prove to be an ill-advised notion. With this heavy metal act though it's a fair bit obvious that we're looking at a progressive metal band. Not only that, but we're looking at a progressive metal band with a concept album as their debut-release! That's got to count for something right? It does in my eyes as it's a fairly ambitious, and not to mention downright risky, approach all around. For the most part the band works hard at it and some of that hard work actually pays off! With vocalist Alexios Ciancio leading the way the band steps out into the cold emptiness of space (or as most people refer to it "they take a swing at playing progressive metal"!) and follow a path that was laid out before them by the likes of Symphony X and Dream Theater. To be fair it isn't all that simple though. There's nothing really black or white about this act as this album also touches upon hard rock, traditional heavy metal and even modern rock/heavy metal! The best that can be said about this bold approach is that it sort-of works, but the band is simply better off when they stick to a sound that's fairly similar to Symphony X. Following that road sees the band, which is rounded out by guitarist/backing vocalist Mike Crinella, bassist Stefano Galassi, drummer/backing vocalist Francesco Gabrielli and (studio-wise) keyboardist Giorgio Gori. A few guests also stop by including Marcelle Cavalli (Deadly Carnage) and Claudia Saponi (Absynth Aura) to help out of this 10-track debut recording. While it might sound as if I'm being a little tough on the band by saying that they should just stick towards a sound that is similar in nature to Symphony X the truth is I did enjoy this album. I simply have mixed feelings about how much I like it and if I like it enough to recommend it. It's possible that prog fans may very well overlook some of the weaker moments on this album and simply enjoy it for what it is. That would be understandable. For now though I'll be curious to see how this group sounds down the road a bit with another album or two under their belts.
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