KAOS
The Pits of Existence

May 2010
Released: 2010, Self-released
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Luxi Lahtinen

KAOS, this 5-piece thrash/crossover band from California, USA, has been around a long time - since 1987 to be more precise. They have been releasing several demos and 3 full-length albums so far, of which their latest effort - titled THE PITS OF EXISTENCE, basically sums up the band´s both hardcore and metal roots in a pretty nice and effective way as a matter of speaking.



THE PITS OF EXISTENCE is a good record as a wholeness, I mean, if you have just ever liked a combination of both hardcore and thrash elements in your daily dose of music. The intensity of in-your-face thrash riffs, enough amount of variety, highly testosterone-filled and aggressive type of gang shout vocals, an unyielding attitude to rip our heads off our shoulders by the experience they have achieved for themselves within over 20 years – among other things, are all what make this new album worth checking out from these pioneers of hardcore-ish thrash, KAOS.



In fact, the KAOS camp has succeeded where many have so-called rookies and even pioneers, have failed somewhat badly when trying to capture the same energetic vibe and spirit of the 80s, convincingly enough into their own sound and releases. In KAOS´ latest effort, pretty much all the bullets hit their targets almost 75-80% accurately – not leaving that much for improvement and just managing to impress the hell out of many of us.



THE PITS OF EXISTENCE was self-released by the band members themselves. However, since this album contained some seriously taken kick-ass ingredients in it, I bet KAOS will be some record label´s burning point after the word about the goodness of this album has spread enough to the uncompromising ears of label owners.

KAOS
The Pits of Existence

May 2010
Released: 2010, Indie
Rating: 4.0/5
Reviewer: Robert Williams

Formed way back in 1987, Oakland, California's long running thrash metal warriors KAOS have returned with their third full length album THE PITS OF EXISTENCE. Eleven tracks make up the new album (if you count the intro track) clocking in at just thirteen minutes shy of a solid hour of neck breaking thrash metal insanity. The new album is housed in a visually stunning digipack with some classic artwork depicting a mass of fallen angels courtesy of artist Tuomas Pekkarinen. A quick glance at the liner notes and it's worth noting that this latest offering is not only performed by the band, but also recorded and produced by the band as well. An impressive feat considering how slick the album's production comes off sounding.



"Enter Insanity" the album's intro track greets the unsuspecting listener with what sounds like some atmospheric fax-machine ring tones interspersed with demonic sub-frequency spoken word passages. Kick drums give way to bass and guitars and a final air-raid siren sounds the warning of the thrash attack to follow. "Bleed Some More" scorches onto the scene with double time old school thrash riffing and a pummeling drum performance from skin basher Burton Ortega. There are a lot of tempo changes in this, the album's first proper track, alongside some catchy breakdowns sure to induce some furious mosh pits down in the band's home state of California. "Pits of Existence" is next with some good old fashioned mid tempo thrash that makes you wanna put some horns or fists in the air. "Pits of Existence" may not be anywhere near as fast as the album's opener, but somehow comes off sounding ten times heavier and chock full of piss and vinegar.



Guitarist and vocalist Jason Darnell turns in a varied vocal performance on THE PITS OF EXISTENCE. At times his phrasing is frantic and venomous but he also throws down some more melodic clean vocals, such as the pre-chorus on "Blood Sacrifice". His high pitched screams at times recall those of Tim Clayborne (Hatred/Painmuseum) and that is definitely cool in my book. There are also some shouted gang vocals to be found throughout the disc. Both Jason Darnell and Stacey Murray are credited as simply "Guitar" so I'm not sure if they are trading solos or not, or if one of them plays rhythm and the other handles lead duties exclusively, but whatever the case there is tons of tasteful lead work to be found here. "Tear Us Apart" musically gives a bit of a nod to classic Kreator yet maintains its own unique identity, mostly due to Jason's pretty unique sounding vocals. The album comes to a close with "Exit Reality" an instrumental number that comes off as more of a spacey metallic jam session than anything.



Overall this is a very solid disc that should find repeated listens in the stereos of thrash enthusiasts. No retro throwback stuff, just an old school band constructing modern thrash excellence. The guys in KAOS have paid their dues for sure and it shows on THE PITS OF EXISTENCE.