Alea Jacta - Enter The Chaos
Alea Jacta began their career as far back as 1994, originally performing as a cover band of bands such as Guns n' Roses to Sepulture before evolving into their own, original style. Their first two demos were much more melodic than they are today. After the last demo in 2002, the band's original vocalist left, and the new vocalist that came in gave the band a much more solid, 'metal' oriented sound as opposed to rock. After many years of preparation the band was finally ready to release their first full length debut, 'Enter The Chaos.' For fans who have been following them since their demos, it may come as a surprise to how heavy this record can get. Rooted more in the Groove/ Hardcore metal genres, the opening "Intro" forebodingly builds things up, deceiving listeners with a haunting tone that is certainly melodic. Then "Fire" comes in and any notion of melody is gone for the most part. The soft guitars are replaced by heavy, cohesive chugs which still have plenty of rhythm, but when combined with the brutal, roaring vocals that sound like bands such as God Forbid or Thine Eyes Bleed, the former idea of 'melody' and 'rock band' goes out the window. "Tears In Silence" has a great melodic section that is more progressive and rock oriented like the introduction, but still plows straight through.
For those who prefer Alea Jacta's older style, the track "Writing On The Wall" will bring back some memories. Suddenly, clean vocals are introduced with a slow, depressing guitar tone that makes Alea Jacta suddenly seem like some depressed modern metal band, much akin to how Five Finger Death Punch became noticed with their hit from their debut album with "The Bleeding." The mix of bellowing and singing, along with softer music accompanying the verses with an extreme bridge/ solo, will appeal to much of the metal fans of the present time. Other tracks like "Finalizo" also include a mix of harsh and clean vocal work, but on an opposite spectrum with the harsh vocals taking the lead and the clean vocals only appearing every once in a while. True to their heritage, Alea Jacta include some Spanish with their lyrics which makes the song delivery much more interesting in the way Ill Nino used to be on their earlier works before switching to full English due to fan demands. Sadly, 'Enter The Chaos' is a bit of a brief album with only seven tracks and barely clocking at half an hour. Some might consider it better if it had been released as an EP with a few filler tracks like "Duality" and "Fire" removed due to their semi generic sound of being a basic Hardcore/ Groove metal track that focuses more on churning, chugging rhythms as opposed to the other more melodic selections that did the band justice in their earlier days. Overall, the change to metal is a welcome sign while they retain their rock roots so there is more of a diverse balance on both sides of the music.
For those who prefer Alea Jacta's older style, the track "Writing On The Wall" will bring back some memories. Suddenly, clean vocals are introduced with a slow, depressing guitar tone that makes Alea Jacta suddenly seem like some depressed modern metal band, much akin to how Five Finger Death Punch became noticed with their hit from their debut album with "The Bleeding." The mix of bellowing and singing, along with softer music accompanying the verses with an extreme bridge/ solo, will appeal to much of the metal fans of the present time. Other tracks like "Finalizo" also include a mix of harsh and clean vocal work, but on an opposite spectrum with the harsh vocals taking the lead and the clean vocals only appearing every once in a while. True to their heritage, Alea Jacta include some Spanish with their lyrics which makes the song delivery much more interesting in the way Ill Nino used to be on their earlier works before switching to full English due to fan demands. Sadly, 'Enter The Chaos' is a bit of a brief album with only seven tracks and barely clocking at half an hour. Some might consider it better if it had been released as an EP with a few filler tracks like "Duality" and "Fire" removed due to their semi generic sound of being a basic Hardcore/ Groove metal track that focuses more on churning, chugging rhythms as opposed to the other more melodic selections that did the band justice in their earlier days. Overall, the change to metal is a welcome sign while they retain their rock roots so there is more of a diverse balance on both sides of the music.
- Intro
- Fire
- Tears In Silence
- Writing On The Walls
- Enter The Chaos
- Duality
- Finalizo
