Made in Japan 5: Vorchaos! (Japan's Vortex of Chaos)
11/7/2013 2:18:44 PM by David L




Last month, I met Ushi – drummer for Vorchaos – through a mutual friend after checking out the Leprous/Ihsahn gig in Shibuya, Tokyo. He mentioned that his band will be playing a special gig at the beginning of November and strongly urged me to come and check it out. Although I knew nothing about them, I decided to check out their show with no expectations. To make a long story short, I was completely blown away not only by their performance, but their music as well! They combine many elements of hard rock and metal that will definitely please fans of all genres of heavy music. I bought their debut CD immediately after the show and have been listening to it non-stop ever since. For such a young band, they have a tremendous amount of talent and writing abilities way beyond their years.

As I mentioned before, their music combines many genres of music such as metalcore, Gothenburg-style melodic death metal, screamo, & hard rock. Their debut album – Vortex of Chaos – displays all of these elements across 15 songs (over an hours worth of pummeling music). The guitar work is amazing, as the wall of riffs never stop. Many great solos are present on this album, as well as twin guitar leads that would please die hard Iron Maiden fans. Galloping bass lines are in perfect sync with the drums and perfectly augment the guitarists on the low end of things. Ushi – who studied percussion at the Berklee College of Music – creates massive drum tracks filled with double bass, the occasional blast beat, and everything in between. The vocals are some of the best I've heard by a Japanese metal band as they range from beautiful melodic singing to screamo and even death growls.

The video clip below is a performance of one of their songs from May 2013. I can honestly say they sound just as good live as they do on their CD. Full of energy, they have no problem drawing the crowd in with their performance. Keep an eye on these guys and keep checking YouTube for performances from this band. --Grim \m/

<< back >>