Review Summary: "The same song played over again. Screaming never again until my heart’s content"
Ten years have passed since the release of Point Zero's debut album Unite Us All. Within the next year, the band changed their name to War Of Ages and would begin to grow, just as their following did, and eventually turn into the band we know today. In the time leading up to the present, War Of Ages would drop two great albums in a row that would dramatically increase their fan base, Arise & Conquer and Eternal respectively. The latter of the two showing this ever-growing progression, but what would come next completely destroyed all of that. Sure their last album Return To Life had its moments (M.E.B.), but it just seemed uninspired and, well, boring. To avoid even more disappointment I told myself I was not going to listen to this, but old habits die hard apparently. What I found left me puzzled, but in the end pretty content.
Right off the bat, we are blindsided with the electronic opening of sorts of "From Ashes". I use the term blindsided due to the fact that WOA fans are not really used to hearing these elements in their music. The next noticeable feature is that the cleans are not as weak as they were in the last album. They appear to be layered by more than one voice this time, but while being an improvement, this can also pose a problem. The clean vocals sound vaguely familiar to fellow Christian counterparts Becoming the Archetype. In fact, the entire song of "Doomsday" sounds like something off of the aforementioned band's 2011 album Celestial Completion, but that might just be me hearing things. The other problem with these clean vocals is something many other metalcore bands struggle with as well, for they are overused and most times they are not utilized in the most beneficial way. Instead of feeling awkward forced into a song, as in the opening of the next two tracks, they should naturally flow in and out of the song with the harsh vocals. This isn't to say the cleans are necessarily a bad thing, as they work well in certain songs. However, whoever coined the term "you can't have too much of a good thing", was oh so wrong. The harsh vocals on the other hand, are executed pretty flawless courtesy of Mr. Leroy Hamp. Though very powerful, the only drawback to them is that there is not very much variation in them. I would love to hear Leroy attempt more screams or perhaps a lower growl every once in a while.
I know what you are thinking: Why are you complaining when you know damn well metalcore is known for their clean choruses? While true, just because you get pigeonholed into a certain group does not mean you have to follow those negative stigmas. Besides making every chorus have clean vocals, another thing metalcore gets a bad rap for is breakdowns. Now, after ten years of music, one would figure a band would learn to limit their use of these being mindlessly placed in songs. While WOA avoids using a plethora of breakdowns, there are still some evident that aren't needed. For example, the song "On Broken Wings" features a nice opening that mixes these new-found elements of electronics and the old elements of crunchy guitar riffs that the band is known for. The song bridges this gap really well, but old habits die hard apparently, as toward the end we hear a shout of "we are the fallen" followed by another trademark genre cliche: a breakdown which really hinders the song and really wasn't necessary. The song could have transitioned just fine directly into the powerful guitar solo, which ends up saving the song. Some breakdowns DO work, such as the one toward the end of "Lost In Apathy", which is layered nicely by a nifty little guitar solo.
Do not fear though because the album does have its moments, particularly in the middle of the album. After a rather sluggish beginning, "Chaos Theory" swoops in and injects a little life into the album by adding a little whammy and just a more aggressive sound overall of which we have grown so accustomed to from War Of Ages. The chorus features cleans that actually fit the structure of the song, contrasting with the furious pace very well. The energetic trend continues as "LionHeart", the best song on the album shows its face. Speaking of showing face, the drumming FINALLY shows up on this track, and actually is up to par with the blazing guitars, offering us at times some blastbeats that coincide nicely with the dual guitar assault and Hamp's vocals. This collective cohesion and the fact that there are no clean vocals awkwardly forced in the chorus is why this song is the best one on the album. Unfortunately, other than a few tiny details, the rest of the album doesn't offer too much more that is noteworthy. While I appreciate them trying to change up the generic metalcore song structure on "Amber Alert", I figured they would have learned by now that Leroy's spoken or "rapping" words do nothing besides absolutely ruin the song. Which is such a shame since the background set by the rest of the band sounds pretty good. The only time rapping and spoken words have worked for WOA was on the title track of Eternal, and that was due to the fact that Sonny Sandoval of P.O.D. was doing them. This element really renders the song weak and useless. However, "Renegade" features something that I wish the band would utilize more, and that is the backup screaming. It really adds to Leroy's vocals. Speaking of vocals, the cleans used in the chorus here are just enough to not be overbearing and actually help the song, which is supposed to be their goal all along. Some more improvements, and this is a BIG one: The lyrics of "Ecstasy" are pretty commendable due to the fact that they seem to be about something other than Christianity, a girl. "I gave her everything, she left me wrecked and on my back". Though the Christian themes are to be expected from War Of Ages, it's nice to have some material that can be applied to everyone, including those who may not have the same beliefs, yet just love the music. Once the sound of the album closer "Still Small Voice" faded out and the album was over, I was really left in an indecisive state. Was this better than the last album? YES. Was I completely sure that I liked it? No, so I decided to give it another spin.
After one more listen, my end conclusion was this. Many bands (specifically of this genre) stay stuck in a rut because they refuse to change their sound and to become non-conformists to genre cliches. War Of Ages showcased a very subtle use of "atmosphere" and other electronic elements throughout the album. While being misplaced at times, this still gives me the impression that the band is trying to branch out a little bit, but not too far that they start losing their current fan base. Though it definitely will not win album of the year on any charts, including my own, Supreme Chaos does deserve some praise, especially after how sub-par, and quite frankly boring their last work was. After all, improvement is what we always look forward to when bands release a new album, and this was a baby step back to where War Of Ages needs to be.
