CHAOS ECHOES
Mouvement
Nuclear War Now!
4/5
Hailing from the far off lands of, well… California; we have Chaos Echoes. These guys know exactly what kind of music they want to make and vastly enjoy doing it. Mouvement can be explained as just that, being that the record moves from one extreme to the other, even if that extreme isn’t necessarily what one might think of as an extreme in terms of heavy metal. While the Bal-Sagoth friendly titled opener “Embodied By Perfidious Curls In The Innervated Flux” comes on with the level of fire and passion that one might expect from an extreme act of this nature, we’re lead directly into “As An Embraceable Magma Leading The Subliminal” where a progressive soundscape is unleashed with a very light sense of venom from the vocal end of the band. It might even sound like a completely different act altogether, but that’s completely alright, as it still manages to encompass the mood and show this sense of movement, or “mouvement” as they state. As a matter of fact, it flows directly through “Surrounded and Amazed By These Unplumbed Abysses Of The Inverted Sea” and continues through the next cut, which also takes on an instrumental nature. What is most interesting about this performance for me, is what is done within the drum work. This drumming really helps the album to flow and carries most of it’s progressive “movement” per se. It’s an interesting concept. The record is equally as expressive as Pink Floyd, Camel or King Crimson, but in a slightly more extreme vein. I have a feeling that some individuals might not understand this at all, because honestly it is a rather large jump from extreme heavy metal to something that feels more like a sort of metallic astral journey. When the metal influences kick back in around the fifth cut on the disc, “Shine On, Obsidian! Ego! Ego! Back To The Yearning Of The Self” (Come on guys, read Crowley much?) we’re also greeted to yet another instrumental outing. Most of the disc is that way, so you’re expected to take a journey with Chaos Echoes rather than bang your head profusely while shouting angrily. (Even though that IS fun to do as well) As a matter of fact, the denouement of the performance switches gears altogether to offer what sounds like an acoustic meets tribal and then industrial static-induced ritual. This ends the disc on a few chants, which are some of the very few vocal lines that you will hear on this album. The band considers themselves to be highly spiritual, so this sort of atmosphere makes perfect sense in that regard. If you’re looking to take a trip into a world narrated by slightly progressive extreme metal, then I think you’re going to enjoy Mouvement. (The Grim Lord)