Shadow

Forever Chaos

Spikefarm Records 2008

Japan has a new entrant into the world of the Gothenburg melodic craze that continues to sweep through the underground.  Right from the start you know that Forever Chaos will be a workshop on fretwork antics with some insane guitar noodling opening the title track.  Then the song kicks it into high gear with some standard death metal bludgeoning before later ushering in some galloping melodies.  Within the Winter Silence melds the overt simplicity of In Flames with the more rapid paced and technical work of Dark Tranquillity.  The Orators opens with some speedy thrash riffing and deep death vocals.  The thrash riffs are broken up by melodic leads and a brutal low-end groovy death metal section.  My Apologies is driven more by Rhythmic melodies reminiscent of In Flames though they are enhanced on the end of each passage by soaring melodic accents.  Album closer Land of a Dream provides a rare instance of keyboard usage which is actually quite surprising for this style as I expected a lot more.  There are some seriously insane guitar acrobatics woven into the fabric of this album and are one of the few redeeming features that prevent this album from drifting into the world of the blatantly derivative.  Check out the soloing on Before True Light to understand exactly what I mean.  The vocals are raw and searing and you'd never know it was a woman behind those vicious lungs.  Shadow closes out the album with a forgettable cover of Slayer's Black Magic.  If you focus solely on the guitar wizardry of Yuichi then you will be blown away by Shadow but if you take a step back then you will see that Forever chaos is nothing more than a competent though skillful entry into the arena of melodic death metal Gothenburg style!