EP Review: Attractive Chaos – Tame & Conquer (Self Released)

Franco-Italian melodic metal band Attractive Chaos return with their second EP, Tame & Conquer which is to be released independently on the 14th of August.

Attractive Chaos are mastering the art of painting wonderful, intimate portraits of the emotions that define us within their music. The grand scale of our hopes and ambitions, the quiet depths of our loves, the consuming heat of our obsessions  are all captured in the deceptive simplicity of stylish and sophisticated songs. Since their formation in 2022, and their debut EP, The Fire Between Us, Attractive Chaos have looked to offer uplifting music driven by the beautiful vocals of Emma Elvaston to entwine the listener in sublime melody.

The band look to continue the strong start they have made to their careers with the follow up, Tame & Conquer as they evolve their sound and find their place. This EP offers a more complex exploration with harsher and heavier elements highlighting depth and darkness as well as plenty of soul lifting and invigorating cleansing to really put forward a release that feels like a complete works. For those yet to experience the beauty of Attractive Chaos, the band shares commonality with the likes of Epica, Nightwish, Delain and Leaves’ Eyes.

The fierce dramas of the human heart are acted out upon the stage of a lifetime. The storms of fervour and desire, the gloom of doubt instilled by repression, the brilliant, blinding light of realisation and new found self belief – blazing sunshine cutting through the clouds of deprecation and control. We fall like the Morningstar and rise again like the phoenix. Such brief, tempestuous lives we lead, brave flames in the darkness of eternity; tiny passion plays, triumphs and tragedies, flickering sparks in the cold and endless night.

Attractive Chaos are Emma Elvaston on lead vocals, Pietro Paolo Lunesu on bass and backing vocals, Clément Botz on guitar and backing vocals with additional support from drums on The Fire Between Us by Thomas Calegari and guest vocals from Gabriele Gozzi.

Tame & Conquer was mixed and mastered at Domination Studio (Nightmare, Karl Sanders, Twilight Force) with cover art from Mickael Briot of Mythrid Art (Evenflow, In Defilade).

Tame & Conquer comes with 6 tracks to get stuck in to starting with To The Moon, a song that instantly jumps in and grabs your attention with it’s gorgeous melody and “whoa whoa” chant. It’s attractive, that’s for damn sure, really pouring out gorgeous melodic singing with lots of harmonious backing. There is a nice rhythm coming from the drums and a little touch of chug to the verse riffs. The chorus is perfect – sticking with that little chant rather than lyrics and just jumping the lead guitar melody to the forefront. It’s catchy and easy to listen to. Vocals are great, always clean and very smooth and dreamy to listen to. As you would expect and hope for in this genre, the icing on the cake comes courtesy of a wonderful guitar solo too.

So smooth was that opener that I was wholly unprepared for what comes next in Magical Powers. A thick riff, with plenty of meat to it and a blast of harsh vocals shake me out of my dreamlike state as the aggression ramps up massively. The vocals flit between styles, harsh for a period, then transitioning beautifully into clean melodic vocals. It’s a stunning combination and as the song evolves, giving us leading cleans and backing growls, you can’t help but fall in love with Attractive Chaos. Some of the vocals have an operatic quality to them giving them a folk edge with some gentler melodies and backing adding to that feeling but we see here that Attractive Chaos can live up to both words of their name when they want to with some much heavier and crunchy riffing, drum beats and growls.

Words on a Letter and Finally follow with the former giving us a nice mix of stunning clean and melodious vocals but over a bed of grooving, bassy riffs. It’s a lower tempo, but you will find yourself nodding along with the nice drum beat and riff while you are hypnotised by the ethereal vocal quality.

The latter raises the tempo back up delivering huge folk/power lead guitar lines that instantly grab you. The verses drop back to a mid tempo, bringing a nice riff and beat behind the gorgeous flow of lyrics. I love the lead guitar that drops back in for the chorus – it soars and works wonderfully with the vocals. I also really like how the vocals flow with next to no pauses between sentences. An additional bit of harsh backing just in the lead up to a fantastic solo with lots of phases and transitions in it really elevate the track and make sure you wont be forgetting it any time soon.

Tame & Conquer continues on with Right Now and Attractive Chaos are clearly looking to make a statement here combining easily the heaviest and crunchiest riffs on Tame & Conquer with a touch of orchestral backing. Catchy verses lead into catchy prechoruses and then even catchier choruses that bring some harsh backing shouts to combine with the silky lead vocals. As the chorus ends, the harsh vocals take over for a second as the drums rip into blast beats and the riffs go for it. That intense section being followed by a smooth and clean section is such a wonderful contrast and leaves a lasting impression on this penultimate track.

We close out Tame & Conquer with the track Obsession and continue son that nice combination of sections with harsh vocals and crunchy riffs transitioning into smooth melodic sections. Another fiery chorus with plenty of vocal harmonising catches you attention and I really like the backing vocals that lead you into the chorus. There is a guest vocalist here too, I believe it is Gabriele Gozzi, and that additional tone in the mix just adds another layer of depth and excitement to the mix. A nice orchestral slowdown that leads into a stunning showcase of singing and harmonising impresses as does the gorgeous guitar solo that leads the song, and the EP to it’s close.

Tame & Conquer is an impressive release, staying predominantly on the softer side of melodic metal but with hints of heaviness through riffs and harsh vocals at times it shows Attractive Chaos have plenty of skills in the band to allow them to move the songs in any direction they need to. I found the release to be extremely professional in it’s sound with a real clarity to all of the instruments and the vocals. Melody is important here and Attractive Chaos deliver that by the truckload with touches of orchestral backing, stunning lead guitar work and vocals that are sweet and silky to listen to. The sky is the limit for a band such as this who will have genuine mass appeal and Tame & Conquer will surely only elevate their status.

You can preorder a copy of Tame & Conquer by Attractive Chaos from the band’s store, here.

Attractive Chaos Links

Website – YouTube – Facebook – Instagram – Spotify