I Chaos - The Human Repellent

'The Human Repellent' may be I Chaos's debut album, but it feels like their third. Right from the start this Dutch death metal band seems to do everything right with "Scattered Remnant," which shows how their style draws on bands from Cannibal Corpse to Suffocation to Decide- all 90s churning death metal but with the touch of modern sound as opposed to the fuzzy, old school tone that can make everything hard to hear. Some tracks like "Revulsive Butchery" and "Sworn To Repel" have thick, chugging rhythms that are groove laden and catchy to hear with vile themes. Even though the riffs can get a bit repetitive with the blastbeats, the band stills knows how to keep things engaging and brutal. "Sons Of Slaves" focuses more on the solos which almost sound progressive from the guitar tones and clealy produced, which is always a great thing. Then there is "Mass For The Blind" which adds in some more technical elements with the stop and go pace of the music but it is a nice break from the usual seamless flow of rhythms that can burn out ears over time.

Overall I Chaos did very well at creating a brutal craft that takes everything that is good about death metal and just throws it all at once. For those who are complaining that everything is going too much in the way of the deathcore or melodic death metal sound and losing its violent, tumult of power that made it so terrifying in the mid-late 90s, 'The Human Repellent' is a repellent that weeds out the usual generic crud that is out there and sits itself right upon the throne of possible death metal champions. It is rare that a debut album creates this much of an impression with one listen, but aside from smashing ears in, I Chaos makes their mark as one of the better death metal bands of 2011. And remember... this is only album number one! If they keep going at this rate their legacy will build a lot faster than the average band.

  1. Scattered Remnant
  2. The Admonishment
  3. Down Comes The Framework
  4. Revulsive Butchery
  5. Sons Of Slaves
  6. Imprisonment
  7. Chaos Revolts
  8. Degeneration Sublime
  9. Sworn To Repel
  10. Mass For The Blind