Artist: Caliber 666
Title: Blood Fueled Chaos
Type: Album
Label: Ibex Moon Records

Continuing this labels love for old school death metal and high quality signings, Caliber 666, native to Sweden offer up their debut studio recording. From the outset, it is chaotic to say the least; in fact it is not until ‘Let the Blood Flow’ booms from the stereo that the downright dirty filthy old school influence comes to the forefront (helped with guest vocals from Dismember vocalist Matti Kärki). The initial teachings add some modern elements to the sound, mainly speed, but the aforementioned track really hits the spot and sends you back to the graveyard in true revelling style.

Stripping down to the bare bones, Caliber 666 take you into their world and invite you to hold on. Having said that, this is not something that immediately grabs you makes you herald it, but that guitar tone, that’s where they get me! But no wonder when you have mixing and mastering done by Fred Estby. ‘The Worthless’ with it’s fist raising intro has all the hallmarks of a classic death metal tune from the early 1990’s, riff after riff, intense vocals (with a guest appearance of LG Petrov of Entombed) and simple drum patterns. Then there is ‘Serpents Walk’, what a classic, with its mandatory head banging tempo, beautifully crafted guttural graveyard vocals and a distinct groove, this is all things heavy and all things “authentic”. The tempo changes make the track rise above any misconceptions you may have about being a copycat band or a band living off the styles of the masters, the arrangements are solid, and my only criticism would be that the vocals are sometimes lost in the mix. But whatever you think, this album is a good listen, but don’t expect anything out of the box different, especially if you are a fan of uber-technical death metal, this is bare bones stuff, music with balls. The old guard will love this; ‘Blood Fueled Chaos’ is a solid bone crushing release.

http://www.myspace.com/caliber666sweden
http://www.caliber666.com/
http://www.ibexmoonrecords.com