siLLy puPPy As metal music continues to evolve into stranger and more bizarre twisted forms, it seems that the golden years when pure thrash, old school death metal and second wave black metal are relics of a ever distancing past. While some newer bands attempt to go all retro on us and revive those glory years by imitating their favorite classics with a twist or two, more often than not they fall flat on their face than actually summon the metal zeitgeists of the past. It’s even more surprising when a band from a completely foreign culture is that very band that succeeds in achieving the near impossible.

Sounding like a long lost thrash metal classic from the late 80s / early 90s, the foursome known as CHAOS doesn’t come from Florida or even Germany but rather from the unlikely setting of Trivandrum in the state of Kerala, India. Yep, that’s right…. India, a country much more famous for all those colorful and often gaudy Bollywood flicks with high drama soundtracks to match. This band was formed in 2007 but found an amazing affinity with the pure thrash metal from the 87-91 timeline. Think Slayer, Annihilator, Kreator, a touch of Sadus and a huge bunch of early 90s Pantera and you’re on the right track. In fact, if you didn’t know better, you’d swear that this was indeed some long lost classic from some American band from either of the Bay Area scenes (think San Francisco or Tampa).

Having perfected their thrash metal skills, CHAOS was the real deal by winning major competitions and headlining various metal festivals by delivering thrash metal in its purest and most aggressive forms. With the lineup of JK / vocals, Nikhil /guitar, Vishnu / bass and Rohit / drums, this quartet has indeed been India’s answer to Pantera with groove metal hooks, sizzling emotionally fueled leads and that old school thrash metal swagger that has been all but lost as music becomes ever more complex. Even Vektor hasn’t quite mustered up that purity of the past. The band had clearly paid its dues and actually began in 2005 as K.oS before shifting gears into the CHAOS that would torment an unsuspecting culture not accustomed to such sonic terror. CHAOS released this debut album VIOLENT REDEMPTION in 2013, a good 20 years after this style of groove / thrash metal had all but disappeared.

What’s amazing is how perfectly CHAOS pulls off this old style of American thrash metal without missing a beat. The instrumental interplay is outstanding and each track strikes the perfect balance between addictively melodic while pulling no punches with the aggressive speedfests that only deviate a few times such as on “Heaven’s Gate” for a slower passage of clean guitar and atmospheric eeriness. The Pantera influences are abundantly clear and most easily recognized on “Saint” which sports that groove stomp heard on the classic tune “Walk” along with the guitar solos that pay the perfect homage to Dimebag Darrell however CHAOS never takes it too far and in the end sounds like more of a hybrid of some of the more aggressive thrash metal bands of yore including Kreator or Forbidden. With a short running time of just over 32 minutes, CHAOS craft the best classic thrash album i’ve heard in a long time albeit it a couple decades after the party ended.

This is exactly the kind of thrash metal that reminds you how much fun the old school stuff was in its heyday and CHAOS deliver the perfect retro sound that mixes excellent guitar riffing with the bass and drums but ultimately it’s the vocal prowess of JK that clinches the sale for me. His style takes the raspy shouting style of the bigwigs of yore and creates the perfect thrash metal persona. The tracks are fairly short and pack a punch of concentrated riffage that tackles the usual verse, chorus, bridge sort of compositional components and alternates perfectly between shuffles, groove metal riffs and other surprises. There are many metal bands coming from nations like India these days but often they opt to add some ethnic flavors to the mix. Not CHAOS. This band is all about idol worship and do it so well they actually sound better than many thrash metal bands of the era due to the excellent production job. CHAOS is to thrash metal that Russia’s Aria is to Iron Maiden worship. Yes, the influences are worn prominently on their sleeves but when it’s done so damned well as this album is, i really don’t care!