I CHAOS

The father-son combo: is there any more traditional working tandem? The father teaches while the son, the apprentice, learns and eventually becomes more skilled than the man who imbued him with such knowledge. In my opinion, the education and evolution of Thrash to Death Metal is a fitting analogy. Without going too deep into genre lineage, Thrash paved the way for Death, and the two, whether there exists familiar competition or not, are inseparably linked.



Hailing from the Netherlands, I CHAOS is a prime example of father and son working harmoniously together, and holy shit, when these two beasts join forces, pretty bad-ass things tend to happen. An enjoyable mix of technical Thrash and Death that’s enabled by its energetic performance and aggregation of distinct and interesting riffs, I CHAOS’ full-length debut, “The Human Repellent,” hits much harder than you would ever expect.



In an effort to quickly compare I CHAOS to the sound of another Metal artist, and to the bipartisan delight and chagrin of others, I can’t help but listen to “The Human Repellent” as some long-lost and much heavier brother to LAMB OF GOD. The frenetic and awesome technical riffing by guitarist and bassist alike are matched nearly verbatim, and the vocals are again almost a fluid match; Randy Blythe’s vocal patterns and gruff use of roaring and screeching seem to be a blueprint of sorts for I CHAOS’ Harry van Breda. However, the truth remains: LAMB OF GOD’s last two efforts can’t touch the intensity and utter workmanship that “The Human Repellent” wields. This shit is basically LAMB OF GOD riled up on PEDs.



Successors to the disbanded group CYPHER, drummer Koen Herfst and bassist Joost Van Der Graf apparently decided enough was enough; their considerable fucking talent needed to be sharpened and swiped through the bleating masses of placated and easily impressed Metal fans. They couldn’t have done a better job in the recruiting process; van Breda is a microphone monster, and the axe-work of Rory Hansen is just awesome; Hansen’s grooving and technical guitar-playing drives the album with its sheer creative weight. The album’s individual performances on the whole are each worthy of singular listens; the manic drumming of Herfst gives the album its raucous backbone, and the wild bass playing by Van Der Graf provides “The Human Repellent” with another ingredient to further distinguish itself from the dreck of the Metal indistinguishable.



While I CHAOS aren’t doing anything wholly original, what they do, they do it very goddamn well. There isn’t a weak moment on “The Human Repellent.” Tracks like “Scattered Remnant” and “Sworn to Repel” meld Thrash and Death with insanely heavy results, the album closer “Mass for the Blind” is a huge grooving fuck-fest, and “The Admonishment” is just one of many absurdly catchy songs that give this debut the tank treads to plow directly into the head-banging limelight.



A deadly mutation of Thrash and Death that is one of the best debuts of the year. - The Metal Observer

The father-son combo: is there any more traditional working tandem? The father teaches while the son, the apprentice, learns and eventually becomes more skilled than the man who imbued him with such knowledge. In my opinion, the education and evolution of Thrash to Death Metal is a fitting analogy. Without going too deep into genre lineage, Thrash paved the way for Death, and the two, whether there exists familiar competition or not, are inseparably linked.



Hailing from the Netherlands, I CHAOS is a prime example of father and son working harmoniously together, and holy shit, when these two beasts join forces, pretty bad-ass things tend to happen. An enjoyable mix of technical Thrash and Death that’s enabled by its energetic performance and aggregation of distinct and interesting riffs, I CHAOS’ full-length debut, “The Human Repellent,” hits much harder than you would ever expect.



In an effort to quickly compare I CHAOS to the sound of another Metal artist, and to the bipartisan delight and chagrin of others, I can’t help but listen to “The Human Repellent” as some long-lost and much heavier brother to LAMB OF GOD. The frenetic and awesome technical riffing by guitarist and bassist alike are matched nearly verbatim, and the vocals are again almost a fluid match; Randy Blythe’s vocal patterns and gruff use of roaring and screeching seem to be a blueprint of sorts for I CHAOS’ Harry van Breda. However, the truth remains: LAMB OF GOD’s last two efforts can’t touch the intensity and utter workmanship that “The Human Repellent” wields. This shit is basically LAMB OF GOD riled up on PEDs.



Successors to the disbanded group CYPHER, drummer Koen Herfst and bassist Joost Van Der Graf apparently decided enough was enough; their considerable fucking talent needed to be sharpened and swiped through the bleating masses of placated and easily impressed Metal fans. They couldn’t have done a better job in the recruiting process; van Breda is a microphone monster, and the axe-work of Rory Hansen is just awesome; Hansen’s grooving and technical guitar-playing drives the album with its sheer creative weight. The album’s individual performances on the whole are each worthy of singular listens; the manic drumming of Herfst gives the album its raucous backbone, and the wild bass playing by Van Der Graf provides “The Human Repellent” with another ingredient to further distinguish itself from the dreck of the Metal indistinguishable.



While I CHAOS aren’t doing anything wholly original, what they do, they do it very goddamn well. There isn’t a weak moment on “The Human Repellent.” Tracks like “Scattered Remnant” and “Sworn to Repel” meld Thrash and Death with insanely heavy results, the album closer “Mass for the Blind” is a huge grooving fuck-fest, and “The Admonishment” is just one of many absurdly catchy songs that give this debut the tank treads to plow directly into the head-banging limelight.



A deadly mutation of Thrash and Death that is one of the best debuts of the year. - The Metal Observer

http://ichaos.nl/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/aardschok_review.jpg - Aardschok

http://ichaos.nl/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/aardschok_review.jpg - Aardschok

Here we are again reviewing a death metal album. This is the debut album of Dutch death metallers I Chaos called The Human Repellent, and it is a solid slab of speedy technical mayhem. I’d wager to sugg- wait a fucking second. Why am I talking like some pompous suit-and-tie wearing asshole? This is a metal review.

Alright, so if your face wasn’t already sufficiently raped by the serpentine riffng, the technical, syncopated drum assaults, the abysmal hoarse howls of death, and some kick-ass groove as an underlying foundation, just remember, there are 9 more servings of this on the album. NINE MORE SONGS OF BEING SKULL-FUCKED BY BRUTAL INHUMAN PRECISION! (more after the jump . . .)

It should be noted before we begin this that, as mentioned in a small feature that appeared on this site earlier, this band includes drummer Koen Herfst and bassist Joost Van Der Graf of defunct Dutch band Cypher. It seems like everything any of these Cypher guys touches instantly turns to gold, because you can attribute a good deal of what makes this album as excellent as it is to the drumming and the fact that the bass is either keeping up perfectly with the guitar in all its acrobatics or deviating from it tastefully.

Yes, the riffs here are good. Boy are they fucking good. The sound of this band is very much a mesh of the more techy aspects of Lamb Of God and the blasting fury of Sotajumala. It works very well, and I am rather surprised that this album ends up feeling not the slightest bit derivative.

I mean, look at this album cover. LOOK AT IT!

If this doesn’t scream “brutal tech-fest rape machine” to you, I really don’t know what will, except maybe if you like shit such as “Three guys and a hammer”. Don’t look it up. I did. I’m still crying.

The riffs of guitarist Rory Hansen really do drive the music home. The dude is always moving, always transitioning, always mixing things up, whether it’s thrashing, tremolo picking, or palm-muting chunk, the dude keeps his riffs diverse and interesting. As I described earlier, they’re very serpentine in nature and feel like they are winding around you. The grooves that they sink into are merely the snake choking the life out of you after it’s left you dazed and confused.

There will be some people who are going to feel that what this guy is doing is nothing special, but to paraphrase my good friend Anthony Fantano when he reviewed Havok’s Time Is Up, it’s kind of like juggling. The art of juggling is ancient, but if you came across someone juggling grenades and chainsaws, would you seriously just be, like, “Pft, juggling. It’s so old. It’s been done. Whatever”? I think you’d be full of shit if you did.

Hansen’s solos also have a good amount of flair and taste to them, but he never really shreds; he obviously writes these solos for the sake of the songs and not as grandstanding for the show of skill, which I really appreciate.

Koen Herfst’s drumming is something to behold, and as time rolls on, he’s quickly becoming a favorite of mine. This man has a distinctively syncopated and accent-heavy style that gives the bands he’s in a solid, unshakable groove, even during the most speedy and blasty of sections. He really helps this album along as he counterpoints with the riffs SO excellently that it’s hard to believe this is this band’s first album. The music displays the kind of tight, concise, cohesion that only vets would be expected to have.

Joost Van Der Graf, as I mentioned, really spices up things, mostly in the passages where he completely deviates from the riffing, or shows off moments of tapping and sweeping flash. He knows what’s needed for the foundation, and what isn’t, and that shows the mark of a bassist who knows his shit for sure.

Vocalist Harry Van Breda channels the vibe of a much more brutal, more more lethal Randy Blythe and really hits home here. There isn’t much diversity to his vocals, but honestly, it’s hardly needed when you’ve got a broad sword as devastating and hard-hitting as his.

There is not much more to say. I really think these guys got “the stuff” working in their favor. This is solid, hard-punching, flesh-ripping tech death that’s concise, to the point, unrelenting, and enjoyable as a whole. Do not let this slab of sonic punishment pass you by. - No Clean Singing

Here we are again reviewing a death metal album. This is the debut album of Dutch death metallers I Chaos called The Human Repellent, and it is a solid slab of speedy technical mayhem. I’d wager to sugg- wait a fucking second. Why am I talking like some pompous suit-and-tie wearing asshole? This is a metal review.

Alright, so if your face wasn’t already sufficiently raped by the serpentine riffng, the technical, syncopated drum assaults, the abysmal hoarse howls of death, and some kick-ass groove as an underlying foundation, just remember, there are 9 more servings of this on the album. NINE MORE SONGS OF BEING SKULL-FUCKED BY BRUTAL INHUMAN PRECISION! (more after the jump . . .)

It should be noted before we begin this that, as mentioned in a small feature that appeared on this site earlier, this band includes drummer Koen Herfst and bassist Joost Van Der Graf of defunct Dutch band Cypher. It seems like everything any of these Cypher guys touches instantly turns to gold, because you can attribute a good deal of what makes this album as excellent as it is to the drumming and the fact that the bass is either keeping up perfectly with the guitar in all its acrobatics or deviating from it tastefully.

Yes, the riffs here are good. Boy are they fucking good. The sound of this band is very much a mesh of the more techy aspects of Lamb Of God and the blasting fury of Sotajumala. It works very well, and I am rather surprised that this album ends up feeling not the slightest bit derivative.

I mean, look at this album cover. LOOK AT IT!

If this doesn’t scream “brutal tech-fest rape machine” to you, I really don’t know what will, except maybe if you like shit such as “Three guys and a hammer”. Don’t look it up. I did. I’m still crying.

The riffs of guitarist Rory Hansen really do drive the music home. The dude is always moving, always transitioning, always mixing things up, whether it’s thrashing, tremolo picking, or palm-muting chunk, the dude keeps his riffs diverse and interesting. As I described earlier, they’re very serpentine in nature and feel like they are winding around you. The grooves that they sink into are merely the snake choking the life out of you after it’s left you dazed and confused.

There will be some people who are going to feel that what this guy is doing is nothing special, but to paraphrase my good friend Anthony Fantano when he reviewed Havok’s Time Is Up, it’s kind of like juggling. The art of juggling is ancient, but if you came across someone juggling grenades and chainsaws, would you seriously just be, like, “Pft, juggling. It’s so old. It’s been done. Whatever”? I think you’d be full of shit if you did.

Hansen’s solos also have a good amount of flair and taste to them, but he never really shreds; he obviously writes these solos for the sake of the songs and not as grandstanding for the show of skill, which I really appreciate.

Koen Herfst’s drumming is something to behold, and as time rolls on, he’s quickly becoming a favorite of mine. This man has a distinctively syncopated and accent-heavy style that gives the bands he’s in a solid, unshakable groove, even during the most speedy and blasty of sections. He really helps this album along as he counterpoints with the riffs SO excellently that it’s hard to believe this is this band’s first album. The music displays the kind of tight, concise, cohesion that only vets would be expected to have.

Joost Van Der Graf, as I mentioned, really spices up things, mostly in the passages where he completely deviates from the riffing, or shows off moments of tapping and sweeping flash. He knows what’s needed for the foundation, and what isn’t, and that shows the mark of a bassist who knows his shit for sure.

Vocalist Harry Van Breda channels the vibe of a much more brutal, more more lethal Randy Blythe and really hits home here. There isn’t much diversity to his vocals, but honestly, it’s hardly needed when you’ve got a broad sword as devastating and hard-hitting as his.

There is not much more to say. I really think these guys got “the stuff” working in their favor. This is solid, hard-punching, flesh-ripping tech death that’s concise, to the point, unrelenting, and enjoyable as a whole. Do not let this slab of sonic punishment pass you by. - No Clean Singing

Question: Whats the result of locking some experienced Dutch musicians in a rehearsal room first and after that in the Excess Studio in Rotterdam and force them to create an astonishing debut album? Answer: The Human Repellent by I Chaos! The bands debut demo was received very well by press and metalheads and already opened quite some doors for Harry Van Breda (vocals), Rory Hansen (guitars), Joost Van Der Graaf (bass) and Koen Herfst (drums) and now they are ready to take things to the next level.

If I should put my money on one or two promising Dutch death metal bands, Im pretty sure I Chaos is one of them. The individual musicians are quite skilled and have created a beast of an album which will not only send the technical death metal extremists into misty-eyed melancholy, but also indisputably excites and brutalizes as you would expect a high-quality death metal CD to. Forget about Morbid Angels "somewhat disappointing newest output Illud Divinum Insanus and buy the next big thing here! - Lords of Metal

Question: Whats the result of locking some experienced Dutch musicians in a rehearsal room first and after that in the Excess Studio in Rotterdam and force them to create an astonishing debut album? Answer: The Human Repellent by I Chaos! The bands debut demo was received very well by press and metalheads and already opened quite some doors for Harry Van Breda (vocals), Rory Hansen (guitars), Joost Van Der Graaf (bass) and Koen Herfst (drums) and now they are ready to take things to the next level.

If I should put my money on one or two promising Dutch death metal bands, Im pretty sure I Chaos is one of them. The individual musicians are quite skilled and have created a beast of an album which will not only send the technical death metal extremists into misty-eyed melancholy, but also indisputably excites and brutalizes as you would expect a high-quality death metal CD to. Forget about Morbid Angels "somewhat disappointing newest output Illud Divinum Insanus and buy the next big thing here! - Lords of Metal