Chain Reaction - Cutthroat Melodies (review)Kolony Music
In February 2008 Polish youngsters Chain Reaction presented themselves as seminal newcomers with ‘Vicious Circle’. Initially this debut album was self-released, but one year later these guys were signed by Kolony Records. Justice was done in this case, since ‘Vicious Circle’ happened to be a stunner. Now the successor will be released by the same label. The aggressively entitled ‘Cutthroat Melodies’ continues the trend of muscular modern metal. Influences of Machine Head and Pantera are still audible, yet the band has developed a mature sound of their own.
‘Cutthroat Melodies’ is a splinter bomb that scatters in your system. From the crunchy riffs of ‘Twinge’ on we hear a spirited band at work. Vocals of Barton can still be situated in the rougher areas with a hardcore edge, yet you notice that the front man did the utmost to bring in some variegation. Especially in ‘Prime Integers’, the influence of Pantera is obvious, but a fine guitar solo adds a zest to the tight metal. Also the next songs continue in this tradition. Guitarists Wodzrej and Dani again regale us with loads of beautiful soloing. A highlight is ‘Insomnia Revisited/N.B. Woodrose’ with its magnificent vocal lines - clean ones as well - followed by a melodious guitar solo. They slacken down pace with bass fade out (marvellous!) and to complete this longer track we have a surprisingly beautiful end with acoustic guitars. In the next songs they swallow the bait again in a merciless manner. The young band summarizes its experiences on the road in the deviating track ‘When Road & Booze Collide’. This song includes clean, but raucous harmony vocals and even a bit blues influences. They occlude this excellent second album with two songs one can imagine a moshpit before your very eyes. Chain Reaction will get where they want to be, they have the talent and the spirit.
Rating 81/100Via:
http://www.lordsofmetal.nl/showreview.php?...460&lang=en
