Chaos Over Cosmos – A Dream If Ever There Was One
Chaos Over Cosmos is an international Technical Progressive Metal band formed by Polish songwriter Rafal Bowman. Over the last few years and releases, he has collaborated with multiple personnel from different regions, including Spain, Australia, and the United States. A Dream If Ever There Was One is a collaboration with KC Lion, an American vocalist, and lyricist. Clocking in at just over an hour, this album contains songs ranging from two to eleven minutes and moves through many sub-genres, making for a fun trip on a wild ride.
Band Members:
- KC Lyon – Vocals/Lyrics
- Rafał Bowman – Guitars/Songwriting/Programming
- Keaton Lyon – Vocals on Navigating By Moonlight
November 9, 2022
Tracklist:
- Continuum
- Fire-Eater
- Navigating By Moonlight
- A Mantra Of Oppression
- Ebb And Flow[Ers]
- Melatonin
- Cascading Darkness – We Will [Re]Seed
- Consumed – Two Cannot [Re]Pair
- Worlds Apart – You Must [Re]Build
- Asimov
The album opens with “Continuum,” a fast-paced, guitar-heavy track showcasing Rafal’s shredding prowess. The drums are programmed based on the band’s biography, which is thin on details. The drums are pure blast beats in many areas, so it may have been easier to program them than find someone with that much stamina. To say they are intense is an understatement. One thing you notice right off the bat, the Progressive shifts on this record are executed with surgical precision. There are no choppy sequences.
“Fire-Eater” is next, and you are immediately overwhelmed by lightning-fast guitars and drums. The bass is almost missing on this track, but you hardly miss it as you try to keep up with the guitars. You get a dose of harsh singing reality when the vocals kick in. The delivery is as fast as the rhythm, somehow keeping up and maintaining breath control. That is truly impressive.
“Navigating By Moonlight” opens with an Industrial/Techno Metal vibe before shifting back to a more guitar-driven melody. Again, this is a HEAVY song. The guitars are incredibly intense, powering through chords like a linebacker crushing a quarterback. The vocals go from harsh to clean and back, never staying in one arena for too long.
The longest track on the album is “Ebb And Flow(ers).” At just under 11 minutes, it is the most Progressive of the songs. There are brief keyboard fills, layered keys under the main riff that does step out front, and vocals that pop in and out, giving more time to the instrumentation. The track is more melodic than some others, less brutal and punishing in the guitar phrasing. There are also more areas that shift to the melodic phrasing, hence the ebb and flow of the track.
The shortest song is “Melatonin,” a two-and-a-half-minute song with a heavier dose of keyboards. This one never steps into the metal realm, so take this as your breather before the next track slams you back into your seat. “Cascading Darkness – We Will [Re]Seed” is another lesson in riff brutality. The heavy is back and here to pummel you into submission. There is more of the fantastic lead guitar work over the riff before the vocals shove their way into the track.
“Consumed – Two Cannot [Re]Pair” is again more melodic in its’ approach. The lead work on the guitar is still incredibly complex. The keys under the riff are airy and ethereal, setting the mood for the track. The tone is partly haunted, partly angsty. We have more odd tones thrown in here and there during this song. They’ve been placed throughout the entire album and used almost as sound effects, similar to what Helloween and Anthrax have done during parts of their careers. It is a fun element that adds some fabulous flair to the compositions.
“Worlds Apart – You Must (re)Build” has an excellent, chugging riff. The rhythm is dynamic and pulsating. The keys give a futuristic feel to the tone. This is not the most Progressive Metal song on the record, but it does have a lot of shifting and twisting phrases, plus it has an incredibly shreddy guitar solo.
Wrapping this album is “Asimov,” a nod to a sci-fi writer renowned for being one of the best creators of future worlds. The rhythm is more straightforward in many places, while the guitar work is spacious and eloquent, taking up residence in space. The interspersed piano fills allow for a few good shifts as this song tries to embody the writer’s full biography in under four minutes.
Most of the lyrics are based in the sci-fi or fantasy realm, and the music fits the tone of the lyrics well. Some of the music is futuristic, and other passages are more classical. The lead guitar work throughout this album is part forward-thinking phrasing and part Neo-Classical shredding. All of it is well thought out and written, never making you wait for what comes next. These songs rush headlong from start to finish, taking you on one of the fastest rides of your life.
MZ Ratings:
- Musicianship
- Guitars – 10
- Rhythms – 9
- Vocals – 9
- Songwriting – 9
- Production – 9
- Overall – 9.20
