CD Review : Chaos Divine – The Human Connection

CD Reviews — 23 May 2011

Review by James Anthony

And so it was, immerging out of the local quagmire, a new hope should arise – carrying with it the future of Australian metal – and lo, it was called ‘The Human Connection’ by CHAOS DIVINE. A majestic journey through a vast emotional soundscape, these Perthtopians have truly lived up to their name on this, their second full-length. As vocalist David Anderton croons on ‘Beautiful Abyss’ – “Don’t wait at the water’s edge / It’s time to step into the unknown blue.” I couldn’t have put it better myself.

A frankly stunning evolutionary leap, ‘The Human Connection’ is a strange beast in that it is certainly catchy, and delivers on the hooks, but takes some time to reveal the full extent of its excellence. Songs such as ‘One Door’ and ‘The Beaten Path’ are immediate highlights that seem to open up even further the more you listen to them with the dual vocal styling’s of Anderton wonderfully complimenting the twin guitar attack of Simon Mitchell and Ryan Felton. The song-writing is of a particularly high calibre, displaying a level of maturity reached by few others in their field. Hell, Dream Theater could learn a thing or two about economy from these guys. Every note, every drum fill, every vocal line serves to improve the song, rather than simply catering to the musicians’ egos. The polyrhythmic elements of the music are employed to great effect, executed with impressive dexterity and seemingly with ease. Perhaps more importantly though, these aspects are not overdone and are not overly technical for the sake of showing off.

Anderton proves himself the bearer of an impressive set of pipes. His soaring clean vocals reminiscent at times of Karnivool’s Ian Kenny (perhaps there is a local scene forming – Perthenburg anyone?). His growls, while not the most guttural you’ll hear, are certainly more than adequate, managing to convey a real emotional depth not found in lesser bands. His lyrics are heartfelt and sincere and for those interested in that sort of thing it definitely provides some food for thought. Although one or two moments border on cheesiness, the utter sincerity of the delivery manages to save the day.

This is anything but a one-man show however, Anderton is backed by some of the best Perth has to offer, with the aforementioned guitarists playing their hearts out over the absolutely rock solid rhythm section, consisting of bassist Michael Kruit and drummer Ben Mazzarol. Much of the music present takes you back to a mid to latter-period Tool, which is a compliment in anyone’s book – although it eschews the foreboding atmosphere of that band’s work in favour of a far more positive, even hopeful outlook. Each and every track has something to offer, with nary a dud to be found. Nevertheless, special mention must go to album closer ‘No Road Home (Solastalgia)’, a towering 12-minute epic that embodies everything great about this album. After a somewhat subdued intro, the song explodes into a spectacular display of masterful prog-riffery that just gets better as it goes on, with yet another jaw-dropping vocal performance from Anderton – this surely must be a contender for the best metal album to come out of Perth, period.

Kudos must also go to the band for their sterling self-production. This is a fantastic-sounding record, with every instrument given the space it needs, and with no one band member dominating proceedings. Much has been made of Swedish metal guru Jens Bogren’s (Opeth, Amon Amarth) involvement with the album, in a mixing and mastering capacity, and he has also done a fine job (and what a coup for the band!) – but let it be known that a bunch of young lads from Perth have pulled off a far better production job than some of the biggest bands in the world have seen in recent years (Metallica and Rick Rubin, I’m looking at you). ‘The Human Connection’ sits comfortably alongside anything released in its genre this year, at the very least – this is world class material and I would not be surprised to see a major label come knocking at Chaos Divine HQ on the back of this album. And so, the future looks bright for Australian metal with Chaos Divine leading the charge. Miss this one at your own peril.