Album Review – Architecture of Chaos by Satanic (Brutal Records)

Satanic are a Canadian, death metal group about to drop their debut album, Architecture of Chaos. Due out on September the 1st this year via Brutal Records, Architecture of Chaos promises to bring atmosphere, rawness and nerve shattering intensity.

Architecture of Chaos was originally released in late 2016, independently though will now get a large scale release due to the band signing with Brutal Records.

Satanic are three guys from Trois-Rivieres in Quebec. We have Martin Carle on the drums, Guillame Petit on guitar and vocals and finally, Izaac Beaudoin on bass and vocals.

Architecture of Chaos has 8 tracks on it and is not much more than 40 minutes long. It deals with topics such as war, worldwide conspiracies and Satanism. Satanic are said to be obsessed with old school metal and their debut is claimed to be the most fervent death metal tunes in the history of the genre. A bold claim indeed. Let’s see then.

Architecture of Chaos opens with Mephistophelian which loosely means wicked or fiendish. It is derived from Mephistopheles who was one of the seven chief demons in Medieval Demonology. It is a furiously heavy start with a fast chugging riff before a demonic growl introduces a really infectious riff. The vocals are roared intermittently but the guitars are the lead on this track. The drums lack a little power, production wise, which is a shame but not overly noticeable due to the leading guitar riffs.

Speed riffing is something Satanic do a lot of and do well. World of Chaos has a slower, descending guitar over some sickening, bile inducing growls before launching into a blisteringly fast riff. Armageddon is another good example of it with neck breaking riffage that just gets small interruptions from a bit of rhythm or a bass solo every now and then. Systematic Fear has a riff played so fast and loud, the picking almost blurs into one continuous note.

There is a lot of inventiveness and variation though too, especially with intros. Processing the Undead has a more rhythmic start and the drums sound meatier too which is welcome. It has a great riff at the end with horrific vocals that move in sync with the guitar line that I adore. Architecture of Apocalypse also has a slower start with a sweet bass line that is joined by a solid riff which turns into a nice solo. There is another great little solo near the end that turns into a properly infectious head banging riff. Try not to nod your head to this song. It’s impossible.

The whole album has a real old school death metal feel, even in the production and mastering. What there is though is a ton of little modern touches that elevate Architecture of Chaos. The excellent bass lines and solos, the brilliant riffing, the powerful, satanic vocals and the drumming which pounds along at rip roaring pace with immaculate timing. This is proper death metal – it’s hard hitting, eye opening and bloody good to listen to. There is so much aggression, so much speed but it is balanced off with the right amount of groove and rhythm like in the penultimate track, Biotech Warfare.

It sums up Satanic perfectly. The riffing goes from insanely fast to amazingly catchy. The drums pound out an infectious rhythm before going into overdrive. The bass bangs away creating the perfect foundation and the vocals are disturbingly strong. The album ends on a huge sub 9 minute long death metal orgasm called Tchernobyl 86. Like the rest of the album we move through excellent riff after excellent riff. Constantly heavy it moves through different levels of speed. The vocals sound so good here and the drums sound good too. It is such a strong way to finish the album, dropping all the slow downs and just blasting you with 9 minutes of brutality.

Architecture of Chaos is a seriously good album. Satanic, and Brutal Records, are on to something big here. The production does feel very old school. While I like that, the drums do get a little lost sometimes so could do with a bit more volume. You can hear how amazing the drum patterns are, let’s just hear them a little louder. A minor issue but it doesn’t detract from what is one of the strongest and heaviest death metal albums you are likely to hear this year. Check it out, you won’t regret it. Just be warned, you may damage your neck once you get into this.

You can preorder Architecture of Chaos from Plastichead here or on Bandcamp here. Find out more about Satanic via Brutal Records, over on Metal Archives or on Facebook. Be sure to give them a like or follow while you are there.

Check out the full track listing for Architecture of Chaos below.

1 – Mephistophelian

2 – World of Chaos

3 – Processing the Undead

4 – Architecture of Apocalypse

5 – Armageddon

6 – Systematic Fear

7 – Biotech Warfare

8 – Tchernobyl 86

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