I switched on Seasons of Red knowing little more that this was death thrash from Brazil. Expecting Sepultura worship (racist?), I was quite miffed to hear a very well-known Spanish guitar riff coming through my car speakers. I smiled. “Good,” I said to myself, “this will be different.” The catchy-as-hell verse hook of “Burn Like Hell” kicked in, and I was jelly.
The overall sound is pretty well grounded in the modern thrash and groove metal world of Lamb of God. The riffs make frequent use of alternating palm mutes with high notes to create a chugging melody. But the vocals are much more akin to Behemoth’s early work, particularly Demigod. Just listen to the punishing opener of the second track. The tone has that same deep, booming quality to it. There is the occasional Max Cavalera-sounding moment, but for the most part this guy seems to favor Nergal’s particular brand of blackened death.
At times the other aspects of the music will join this aesthetic with middle-eastern-sounding riffs and even a brief interlude of Bollywood style singing and bongos(?) in “Gods Upon Mankind.” “State of Blood,” on the other hand, is a straight thrasher drilling tremolo lines through anything in its path. Chaos Synopsis are good at creating little breaks in riffs to highlight death growls, or slow things down a touch to bring the beat to the center of attention. These excellent songwriting choices were most apparent on “Like a Thousand Suns.”
In addition to their ability to arrange, I was also impressed with the overall musicianship. The tapping riff on closer “Four Corners of the World” is a great way to close the album, while the face-melting solo on “The Scourge of God” would be at home on an Arch Enemy or At the Gates record. Don’t ignore the drumming either. There are plenty of blastbeats transitioning into relentless double bass as well as various snare patterns and aesthetically pleasing fills.
I have been told that the album will be available on Spotify, but in the meantime you can check out on Youtube. It’s more than worth your time, especially knowing that the band has taken significant steps forward from previous material. By the way, does anyone else think the dude on the cover looks a bit like Joffrey Baratheon?