Gods Of Chaos - March Into Perdition (2012)

Full Length, The Path Less Traveled Records
May 1st, 2012

Genre: Death Metal/Grindcore/Crust/Hardcore/Black Metal/Fusion
Region: Croatia

Brace yourself for some Croatian lunacy. A friend of mine in Gods Of Chaos gave me a preview of this album a while back before it was to be released, while they were looking for a label. Admittedly when I first heard it, it was a difficult one to place genre-wise and even after a few more listens recently it's still a jarring experience. The release is on the horizon and it was requested that I put up a review and link for it (so fair warning: I'm biased).

Also, one of the tags is "aidshammer". Fuck yeah?

The bands no bullshit fuck everything attitude comes through in March Into Perdition: a psychedelic, frantic romp through multiple genres — mastered by the trusted Colin Marston (Krallice, Gorguts, Behold... the Arctopus, etc.). This is a case where I would use the term fusion to describe their style. There really are no groups offhand I could compare these guys to in truth but there are brief moments when something pops up that I recognize but can't place (possibly a sliver of Krallice or Gigan), and they're gone before my mind can grasp it.

The quirky tangled maze of sound is somewhat comparable to Daughters if they lost the drunken Elvis vocals and went old school black metal-crust-punk-grindcore. This is especially apparent on several tracks like Black Alert/Lack of Earth but only momentarily.

Throughout the 32 minutes of chaotic pissed off hyperactivity you'll encounter elements of thrashy hardcore (Twitching Sours, The Drug of Joy), rough old school black and death metal (Nuclear Phantom Warhowl, Grinning with an Errection at the Gallows, Dealers of Nadir), and furious grindcore (Crush The Skulls of All Fucking Posers, Conquer All!!!) — either all in one track where they flip back and forth, fused effortlessly together, or on single tracks separated neatly.

Regardless of what avenue they take Gods Of Chaos tear it up. Occasional waves of sharp feedback, creepy ambience and creaking noise intro and outro tracks leading to frenetic, bouncy schizoid tremolo riffs and sudden trips of chunky powerchords to break up the hyper punk pace. A notable bass presence is key hear as it plows alongside the angular guitar with the fierce blasts of the drummer supporting the ugly structure. On the vocal front, a howling, distorted raspy voice slices through these elements, ravaging and hoarse with a serious blackened crust edge carving divots in the soudscape.

The record only slows down momentarily in some songs like Crystallized Telekinetic Mindfuck, or the final track Skullfucking Despair which runs for a little over 7 minutes: this track includes a nice dose of dissonance, slower chords and chunky gallops, though it eventually gives way into more unabashed destructive riffing. It's one of the less jarring tracks here. The last 2 minutes include heavy noise and feedback, appropriately closing a very strange and raw journey.

I recommend checking out March Into Perdition. It's a bizarre fusion of twisted oldschool flavor with hardcore pacing and structures; truly odd and contorted. The haphazard and schizophrenic tone could be a deal breaker for some people but for a first release it's surprisingly tight, leaving some room for expansion of their style.

If you want to give this a listen you can check out their bandcamp page, or buy a copy on The Path Less Traveled Records' bandcamp. I'll update this post with physical release information if it's made available later on but if I recall correctly I was told a physical release hasn't been planned.

— links removed due to DMCA complaint —