Out of the light and into the depths of darkness, in a world consumed by agonizing pain, unending war worshipping and lasting desperation. When the god of war wakes from its slumber, the dead will rise to devour the battling living, taking their place as hell will rise. Sounds like the end of days, without any twist just plain destruction and death. Metaphorically, it has been known that we have been killing ourselves with a selection of means, yet add a little color to it and it will become even more horrific. Slightly gazing into the roots of mythology, the Austrian Death Metal band INFECTED CHAOS sought out to explore an older world in order to reflect on the present and future, possibly so of course. Couldn't recognize their chosen theme as mere cliche as another perspective never did any harm. The debut "The Wake Of Ares", via Metal Music Austria, attested INFECTED CHAOS suspected faith and inspiration of early 90's Death Metal, driven mainly from the Swedish / Dutch borders with a smudge of the old British foul nature.

I guess that it all comes down to the right vibe. Exploring "The Wake Of Ares" had me going through rough bits and bloody pieces that I have already listened to, especially when it comes to examples of old such as DISMEMBER, ENTOMBED, ASPHYX and CARCASS. The traditional Swedish oriented Death Metal sound immediately took hold, unveiling the things to come right after the tendered spirited intro, like your typical calm before the storm. Standard as it may be, INFECTED CHAOS were able to keep the same aura throughout the entire album, a kind of an overall chaotic motif that kept ramming me over and over, it felt like the end right when the first distorted chord struck till the very demise of the electrical charge. It is not easy to put it into too many words, there have been plenty of Swedish oriented Death Metal albums of the old days, but only a few truly made the hellish haze as inspiring the long lasting throughout their course.

Other than the infectious atmosphere, INFECTED CHAOS commanded the foray with might. Fueling the fires of the underworld with a nostalgic grace of Death Metal putridity by revamping the old types of riffs with several groove segments, melodic fast tremolo picking to pursue further influential means, paving the road to the listen to keep on listening. The rhythm section, as I expected, remained diverse and energetic, immensely tight and dextered. Here and there sliding with shorted guitar solo effort, which I believe that those could have been just a tad longer, however, sufficient enough though. Furthermore, I really enjoyed the butchering voice of doom, guttural and deep but fairly understandable. When it comes to the songs, as a melodic extreme Metal fan, I was drawn by "Wolves In Thy Pantheon" and final drop of Doom "On the Sea of Grief", both equally vicious and harmonious, anthemic "Ia, God of War", all-out war discharge of "Code of I.C.", "The Arson Anthem" and "Blooddawn Resistance" displaying shards of brutal Thrash and finally the BLACK SABBATH encrusted groove inspired "The Silent Monoliths of Grandeur".

"The Wake Of Ares" is out to be referred with the higher class line of Death Metal bands, I can only assume that if this album will serve as a keeper and a milestone, the future for these guys might be golden. Who knows, maybe Ares might eventually rise again following these predictions.