Sulphur

This five-member band comes from the French scene, which offers new releases almost every day, and it’s called Incipient Chaos. They were formed during 2014 and they immediately released their first EP at the end of July of 2014. So their first release is called “Sulphur” and it contains five storming Black Metal tracks of overall duration of about half an hour. Unlike the clear message that we get by the cover, that it is an “orthodox” Black Metal album, the reality is different. Well here the listener will come across harsh, violent, hyper-speed Black Metal which is close enough to the style of the older Marduk and especially of the period of “Panzer Division”.

After a sort introduction which last only for a few seconds, the first track which is highly representative of the band, begins. The riffs mainly are hyper-fast, warlike, violent, typical Scandinavian Black Metal riffs which will remind bands of the Scandinavia and more specifically of Marduk, a lot. Surely though there are also other elements that the listener will find out with a careful listen. Firstly the beautiful atmospheric passages that create a very dark atmosphere and they remind of the French school (specifically of Deathspell Omega), the beautiful solos that they add a more Thrash character to the tracks, are combined flawlessly with the riffs that I mentioned above and they make the compositions quite interesting. The compositions are somewhat long regarding the duration but with the very good job that the band has done for their structure and the flawless transition from one riff to the next one, they don’t tire the listener and they keep him focused for the entire duration of the album.

Concerning the performance of the instruments and the sound, they have done a very nice job. All the instruments like a solid war machine attack the listener by the first minute. The guitars have a clean sound and they are played with flawless technic and much passion. The bass is a little lower in the mix, it is technical and fast and it fills the sound very well. The drums violent and aggressive, with beautiful changes, rhythmic passages, hyper-fast outbursts and technical turnings, play the first role along with the guitars. The vocals are harsh, typical Black Metal vocals that they do their job well but they are somehow monotonous and they don’t have any originality. The production is slightly bass and it puts out a quite warm sound, something that it doesn’t fit much with the dark and in some parts frozen style of the album. Finally, the mixture is very good as it achieves the absolute balance for the sound and it puts out a very massive and solid result. The lyrics are written in English, they are not contained in the cd but you can find the on the internet, they are written in a mysterious style, they are symbolic and they are quite interesting, while some of them have antichristian content while some others speak of the occult.

The first taste that Incipient Chaos give us with “Sulphur” is quite good. For sure the album has a problem of originality as the influences of the band in some parts are more obvious than they should have been. However this album can offer interesting compositions, not at all tedious and very good musicians who can deliver the compositions flawlessly. The fans of the bands that I mentions above (me one of them) you will appreciate this album for sure. The rest of you listen before you buy.