An 8-piece metal band?! Yes. Well, seven of the listed personnel appear here. Shouldn't be lacking of some ideas, then? No, it is not, even though it is based on good old death metal. I dare to say melodic death metal. Not melodic in a pussy way, but in a great metal style! And thrash metal together with some contemporary electro stuff are thrown in to guarantee an interesting listening experience. Enter Chaos consists of metal musicians from other Polish bands, eg. Azarath, Damnation, Dar Semai, Demise and Luna Ad Noctum.

At The Gates are probably one of the influences. Enter Chaos' version of Swedish masters' 'Cold' gives something out how the band sounds, but not all, not even close. I hear some Immolation-style gut-twisting riffage of '...And the Angels Sing' and on some other songs. Brutal stuff is the majority of 'Dreamworker', but still the songs are memorable, thanks to the melodicity. The music is varying enough to keep things interesting. Thrash metal influnces rear their ugly head every now and then. This sounds universal, meaning 'Dreamworker' could come from anywhere. It also feels like it is from before the half way of 1990s, except more modern synth/electro passages usually heard between the songs as transitions, sometimes inside a song.

The sound is nicely different when compared to a majority of today's releases. When the band gets into action, the sound gets very coarse and everything's very raw. This sounds full, but that is no wonder keeping in mind there's multiple guitars and basses! It might get a bit too thick during the most brutal parts, though, but at least it sounds kind of new with all these players and it fits with the band name! Marta's (ex-Immemorial) throat is definitely brutal, if not very varying. Another female growler who can do it very well. Lyrics vary between real and fantasy. The title track is about living your dreams, making them reality, while modern technology is a theme on a couple of songs. Conflicts, both inner and global, are also a lyrical theme. 'Blood Desire' is a vampire song. Cover artwork is computer generated from photos and stuff by Graal, and I must admit it looks quite cool among all the computerized crap.

Hopefully this is only the beginning of Enter Chaos. 'Dreamworker' is a very interesting metal album with some distinctive twists. If Polish death metal is partly sounding very similar, Enter Chaos beg to differ. Maybe the best newcomer of 2002, at least of what I've heard. Enter Chaos started only in January of that year! Death metallers, do not miss 'Dreamworker'. I say oh yeah, it's fucking metal!

Rating: 7½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
02/10/2003 15:21