UMUR
"Chozzen Phate" is the second demo recording by US, Texas based power metal act Chozzen Phate. The demo was independently released in 1991 and follows the rehearsal demo from earlier the same year. Chozzen Phate was a very shortlived act forming in 1989, releasing the two 1991 demos and then disbanding. The material from this demo was reissued along with unreleased live material on the 2009 compilation release "Chozzen Phate" through Steel Legacy Records.
Stylistically the material on the 5 tracks, 31:18 minutes long demo is US power metal. It´s relatively heavy material but still melodic and epic in nature. For a 1991 release it sounds very dated, which is in some part due to the relatively lo-fi demo recording quality, but also the music style. It´s early Fates Warning, early Queensrýche and their ilk who Chozzen Phate sound like (at their most heavy and thrashy maybe Sanctuary) and they are not among the better acts in the genre. Lead vocalist Paul DeLeon can hit the high notes and delivers some pretty convincing screams too, but his lower register vocals are often delivered without the neccesary precision and emphasis on the wording (and there are moments when he is out of key).
The instrumental part of the music often becomes a blurry mess under the dominant vocals, and it´s safe to say that this is not a well produced demo recording. It´s music for fans of mid- to late 80s US power metal but while it´s always interesting to hear obscure forgotten artists from that time, who didn´t make it, there´s sometimes also a good reason why that was. Chozzen Phate is one such case. Their performances are sub par, the sound production is sub par, and the songwriting isn´t anything out of the ordinary for the genre either, so a 2.5 star (50%) rating isn´t all wrong.