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INCIPIENT CHAOS “Incipient Chaos”
INCIPIENT CHAOS “Incipient Chaos”
By Dr. Abner Mality
In the wild and woolly world of I, Voidhanger Records, INCIPIENT CHAOS is about as conformist as it gets. The label specializes in very avant-garde, sometimes almost unlistenable, variations of heavy metal. INCIPIENT CHAOS is for the most part a straightforward black metal band with a philosophical bent...something that could be heard on Purity Through Fire or Amor Fati Records with no problem.
And as such, this is a solid piece of work. If you crave the usual I, Voidhanger weirdness, you might be disappointed. But lovers of intense and intellectual black metal will eat this with a spoon. There is a slight resemblance to DEATHSPELL OMEGA, but these guys don’t take things as far as they do. The first five tracks here rage pretty hard with intense speed and harsh vocals. Riffing is fairly complex and twisty, with dark melody finding its way into the rage. I suspect INCIPIENT CHAOS is French in origin, as they remind of me of the French BM scene more than the Scandinavian variety. Some of the songs are fairly long, but only the album ender “All Is Lost...All Is Found” is a real epic.
Speaking of which, that track, as well as “Dragged Into The Abyss”, sees the band changing to a slower paced, more melancholy sound…too hard to be called “depressive black metal” but for sure not the earlier hammer blows of “The Apex” and “Crumbling Bones”. I think “All Is Lost...All Is Found” drags a bit at over 10 minutes. All in all, the faster stuff works better for INCIPIENT CHAOS.
A bit of a change for I, Voidhanger, but not a bad one. You don’t have to have saxophone solos or total dissonance worship to make the grade.
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