Quo Vadis - Infernal Chaos
Quo Vadis is one of those bands that the Polish metal scene owes its notoriety and respect to. Formed back in 1988, these guys from Szczecin have already released 8 studio albums, a couple of live compilations and a live DVD. With a portfolio like this you can expect really good music from this death-thrash metal outfit. And by popping the very first track from their latest “Infernal Chaos” (2010) you'll understand why this band is still going strong after all these years.
What grabs your years right off the bat is the outstanding sound production on this record. It's very clear, loud, readable yet retaining the raw power and aggression you want to hear on a thrash metal album. Somehow it reminded me of Megadeth's latest, “Endgame”, which has a very good sound too. The moment you hear the first chords of Black Horizon to the last riffs of Nimue this album's sound will make your head bang in auto mode. It's just so exciting to hear good music with such a flawless production.
From the musical point of view Quo Vadis didn't break the mold with “Infernal Chaos” and I doubt that it was their intention in the first place. It's the good old thrash metal revived with little death metal elements to make it sound relevant to modern mainstream metal. But don't get me wrong, Quo Vadis aren't falling into the Gothenburg black hole and aren't throwing too much melody into their sound. The music is straightforward, aggressive, groovy to a reasonable extent and quite varied to my personal surprise. Of course, there aren't constant mode or tempo shifts of progressive metal here. However, each track on “Infernal Chaos” sounds differently and uses different scales to make it sound really interesting. Staring with the standard thrash metal pentatonic the music moves to the Arabic scale (and even ethnic intro) in Bomb and Fire and even throws some elements of Russian Katiusha in Great Russia with everything you can get in-between. So you'll never get bored by the same scales played over and over again throughout the album – something that too many thrash-death metal bands fall into these days.
To make things short, I'll say that “Infernal Chaos” is a great kick-ass album that will definitely land into the playlist of any thrash-death metal fan. If you need music to headbang to all the way then this is exactly what you need. It's not an exceptional record, however, as you will hardly play it over and over again for days. But it's the type of music to get pumped up to before a show and to simply have a great party!
What grabs your years right off the bat is the outstanding sound production on this record. It's very clear, loud, readable yet retaining the raw power and aggression you want to hear on a thrash metal album. Somehow it reminded me of Megadeth's latest, “Endgame”, which has a very good sound too. The moment you hear the first chords of Black Horizon to the last riffs of Nimue this album's sound will make your head bang in auto mode. It's just so exciting to hear good music with such a flawless production.
From the musical point of view Quo Vadis didn't break the mold with “Infernal Chaos” and I doubt that it was their intention in the first place. It's the good old thrash metal revived with little death metal elements to make it sound relevant to modern mainstream metal. But don't get me wrong, Quo Vadis aren't falling into the Gothenburg black hole and aren't throwing too much melody into their sound. The music is straightforward, aggressive, groovy to a reasonable extent and quite varied to my personal surprise. Of course, there aren't constant mode or tempo shifts of progressive metal here. However, each track on “Infernal Chaos” sounds differently and uses different scales to make it sound really interesting. Staring with the standard thrash metal pentatonic the music moves to the Arabic scale (and even ethnic intro) in Bomb and Fire and even throws some elements of Russian Katiusha in Great Russia with everything you can get in-between. So you'll never get bored by the same scales played over and over again throughout the album – something that too many thrash-death metal bands fall into these days.
To make things short, I'll say that “Infernal Chaos” is a great kick-ass album that will definitely land into the playlist of any thrash-death metal fan. If you need music to headbang to all the way then this is exactly what you need. It's not an exceptional record, however, as you will hardly play it over and over again for days. But it's the type of music to get pumped up to before a show and to simply have a great party!
1. Caducus
2. Blood for Oil
3. Bomb & Fire
4. Black Horizon
5. Chaos
6. Dreams
7. Cross of Gold
8. East vs. West
9. Nimue
10. Evil Dad
11. Russia
2. Blood for Oil
3. Bomb & Fire
4. Black Horizon
5. Chaos
6. Dreams
7. Cross of Gold
8. East vs. West
9. Nimue
10. Evil Dad
11. Russia
