Album Review – Chaos Manifesto by Demonical (Agonia Records)

Swedish death metal band, Demonical, have released their 5th full length album called Chaos Manifesto. The new album was released on the 23rd of March via Agonia Records.

Chaos Manifesto is 8 tracks or 35 minutes of crushing force. An unrelenting attack of death metal with frontman Alexander Högbom sounding particularly demonic as he bellows his way through each track. Demonical have plenty of experience having formed way back in 2006. Now with 5 full lengths, a demo, 3 splits and an EP under their belt, Demonical show they have as much, if not more drive and fire in their belly all these years later.

Chaos Manifesto is much more than just an exercise in aggression though. The immense riffs have a touch of groove to them and the occasional guitar solo adds a touch of variation to keep the album sounding fresh and invigorating. The axe wielders, Johan Haglund on rhythm and Eki Kumpulainen on lead, are supremely talented and will have your head banging furiously. The drums are mixed between furiously technical blasts and pounding rhythms showing Kennet Englund’s talent.

Interestingly, Kennet, Eki and frontman Alexander all joined the band officially in 2017. The only founding member still in the band is applying lashings of groove with his bass and that is Martin Schulman.

Chaos Manifesto kicks off with A Void Most Obscure and it is a heavy, heavy start. Vicious vocals, furious riffing and speed drumming hit you full force from the off. Towards Greater Gods carries on the unrelenting assault though you start to feel the underlying groove a bit too. The vocals are intense but the music is so jam packed with solid riffs and hooks that it is impossible not to enjoy. A really neat guitar solo comes in near the end before the aggression comes back with even more force for a huge ending. What a start to an album!

Thankfully it doesn’t tail off there either. If anything, that exciting start is mostly just improved upon. Sung to Possess, Torture Parade and album closer Death Unfaithful carry on being relentless in their visceral assault. Hammering your mind with pounding drums and bass lines and powerful riffs while vocals are roared with passion over the top. Occasional inspirationally placed solos and infectious hooks dapple each track. If you had to be picky, you could point out that in some of these songs they are very similar in style and structure in that they almost blend into one if you happen to get them in a row while shuffling the music. That is being overly picky though. They are all solid songs, spread out over an insanely good album.

The band’s first all Swedish song of their career, Välkommen Undergång, switches things up a bit. It maintains the ferocity but there is a definite groove edge to this one with infectious hooks and catchy rhythms acting as the foundation. My favourite track on the album is called From Nothing. It is one of the longest songs on here which allows the band time to be a little more creative. As per the rest of Chaos Manifesto, it is a supremely heavy track with vocals that stay ruthless throughout. Musically though there is time for the bass to add more groove in sections, time for the aggression to be ramped up and time for huge hooks and melodic solos to tie it all together. It is a phenomenal song.

In fact, Chaos Manifesto is a phenomenal album. I was hooked very early into the first couple tracks and my smile just grew wider as I listened on. The vocals are superbly guttural. The bass is dripping in groove and power. The drums have a meaty sound and are pounded out furiously. The guitars switch between quick riffing to squealing solos to catchy rhythms. Every instrument works together perfectly creating a powerful sound that will still be rattling around in your head long after the final note plays out. Chaos Manifesto is an album that deserves to be heard and raved about.

Grab yourself a copy of Chaos Manifesto from Agonia Records here. It is also available on all the usual streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music now. You can grab this album and more from Demonical at the Amazon links below as well. Keep up to date with news on Demonical at their pages on Twitter, Facebook or at their own website. Be sure to give them a like or follow while you are there.

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