Chaoseum – Second Life

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CHAOSEUM is a young Metalcore band from Switzerland. They were formed by Loic Duruz and Valery Veings (formerly at Symphonic Metal band ELFERYA). They released their debut full-length album in 2018, went then on US tour with SOULFLY and toured later on that year with TARYA through Russia. In the same year they released their first live album. “Second Life” is now their second full-length album and was recorded at the Chaos Studio and the Conatus Studio and mixed by Gwen Kerjan. It has a total length of about 45 minutes.

Following an intro that is named after the release date of the album, “Second Life” really comes to life and CHAOSEUM do that what modern Metalcore bands do best: powerful and heavy guitar rhythms combined with melodic leads, tempo breaks, a mixture of guttural and clean vocals, and pushing drums. The beginning of “Hell Has No Way Out” is really powerful and reminds me a bit on HEAVEN SHALL BURN classic sequences. The song is really dynamic, driven by the speed of the drumming and the melodic guitar sequences. It contains clever breaks in tempo at the right moments and the vocals of CK Smile are sufficiently variable to make this song really a strong opener. The title song “Second Life” is not much different, it starts really heavy and aggressive at the beginning with excellent growls and double-bass sequences transitioning into a slower, very melodic part with those for Metalcore typical melancholic sequences.

There is a break in tempo with the next two songs of the album. “Into My Split” is slow in tempo but powerful with atmospheric lead sequences, pre-dominantly clean vocals enhanced with brutal growls as background during the choruses. “Into My Split” has all the potential to become a fan favorite. “Smile Again” keeps the tempo slow but is very different from “Into My Split”. It carries over the atmospheric lead sequences and combines it with heavy guitar rhythms. It mixes nicely the modern Metalcore with Nu Metal elements.

“Stick Under My Skin” is the single release of “Second Life.” It starts slowly with acoustic guitars, clean vocals and quietly, then slowly transitioning into a heavier and faster part with powerful guitars, drums and aggressive growls. The song was also released as video in which CK Smile plays an insane guy who keeps prisoners and torture them in his house while singing the song. The video is available on YouTube and the link is given below.

The final part of “Second Life” is a bit slower than the first few songs on the album but maintains its heaviness. There are a few highlights like the frequent breaks in “Feel” that goes alongside a remarkable variation of the vocals including some bone-crushing growls, or the guitar solo on “Sex In Hell”. The final song “Frozen” is another heavy song with very powerful guitars, an excellent mix between clean and guttural vocals, and a good example of the great songwriting skills of the band.

CHAOSEUM deliver an album that is heavy, powerful, and of high quality. “Second Life” is a mix of modern Metalcore and Nu Metal, but most importantly, it has its own identity and character. It is, compared to the debut album of CHAOSEUM more mature and shows the remarkable talent of the individual band members as well as their capabilities to play as a band. The songwriting is excellent throughout and the album is very well produced. With “Second Life,” CHAOSEUM will surely make their fans happy and win over new ones. CHAOSEUM show their potential to become a serious force in the international Metalcore scene and beyond in the years to come.

Songwriting:  9
Musicianship:  9
Memorability:  9
Production:  9