Reeper – Rise of Chaos

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REEPER are most definitely on the rise! Despite various line-up changes, the modern metal Spanish four piece now seem to be settled in their current formation. Even though they formed in 2016, REEPER opted to release their debut studio album “Get Your Ecstasy” four years later without any promotional material behind it. They very quickly moved onto bigger and better things, with their track “Rebound” featuring PILLAR’s lead guitarist Noah Henson released a few months later. In 2021, REEPER released two further promotional singles “Still Alive” and “Save Me”. All three tracks were featured on their second album “Rise of Chaos”. Furthermore, they showcased their live capabilities with their first EP “Reeper (Live 2021)” the same year. This year, REEPER revealed their brand-new single “Grave Damage”, featuring Lukasz Jackowski, with the deluxe version of their album “Rise of Chaos” being released as a result on June 3^rd, 2022, via Art Gates Records.

The debut track of this album is “Rebound”, which comes in fast with a LACUNA COIL style riff at the helm. As soon as Chad Griffin’s vocals kick in, you are instantly drawn in. Even though this track is very good instrumentally, I don’t think it has a lot of lasting power, unfortunately. “Save Me” comes in with a hard-hitting metal style guitar riff, which is memorable. REEPER seem to have redeemed themselves with this track as the chorus is very infectious and gets you singing along from the get-go! It sounds as though it could have been something that THREE DAYS GRACE could have created. “Home” begins on a much slower note, with an emotional, impactful riff being the main attraction here. Even though this is a completely different pace for the band, the chorus lets the song down here sadly. “Let It Go” sees the band adopt more relatability, with the song discussing a toxic relationship and how they both should move on.  “Still Alive” is introduced with a fantastic metal riff, before changing it up for the vocal melodies. This song is another that seems to have been influenced by THREE DAYS GRACE with Chad Griffin’s vocals sounding just like MATT WALST at times.

“Living Fast” starts off on a similar vein, but it just doesn’t stick in my head and is very average in comparison to other tracks. “Bring It All” is slightly different as it lets Lester Stelle on drums take the lead here. It’s not long though before another typical metal riff hits my eardrums. Yet again, it doesn’t seem to have much about it, unfortunately. “Goodbye” is another powerful tearjerker of a song. It is pleasant to have the band change up their sound at this point, that’s for sure. I think this is easily one of the best songs on the release. “Black Lucky Stone” sees the band go back to their typical hard-hitting metal sound. “Another One to Kill” is an energetic, modern metal track which really manages to up the ante, whereas “Firestone” combines metal and electronics to create something a little more unique. From the first second I was very surprised, as Chad Griffin’s vocals within the verses are very much like LIMP BIZKIT. I love the juxtaposition between the nu-metal verses and the classic metal chorus! “Grave Damage” featuring Lukasz Jackowski is up next, which most definitely mixes things up a bit. I really like this track, it’s very memorable and the instrumentals are amazing.

However, it seems as though this is short lived by the time I reach “Overcome”. The song’s entirety just seems to blend into one, with nothing to really distinguish between the verses and chorus. Next up is the remixed version of earlier track “Rebound”. I really love this, as it fuses synths and metal together perfectly to create a unique version of the song. This is a style I would love to see more of on their next release. The last track on the deluxe version of “Rise of Chaos” is the remixed version of “Still Alive”, which immediately sounds as though it could be B-side from THE PRODIGY. The instrumentals are very interesting, making more of a mark with this electronic inspired sound.

Overall, I find this album to be pretty average in comparison to others I have heard this year. However, some highlights such as the remix version of “Still Alive” and “Firestone” really help to put REEPER on the musical map. Even though they are a very talented bunch of musicians, I just feel like a lot of the tracks on “Rise of Chaos” just merge into each other, making it hard to tell one song from the next. I truly feel that if they carry on in the musical direction heard in the last section of the album, they will go on to bigger and better things.

Songwriting: 7
Musicianship: 8
Memorability: 3
Production: 6