Chaos Reigns
Sweet Violence
Self-Released
Despite being born from a desire to rip up the rule book and start afresh, hardcore punk soon became codified and governed by its own set of rules. Bands found their own niche in one of many sub-genres and rarely stepped outside the musical ghetto of their own making. Therefore, the re-emergence of London’s Chaos Reigns to inject a dose of originality back into the scene is more than just welcome, it’s a necessity. Operating at the more extreme end of the genre, this aptly-titled crew have a chaotic, but calculated, sound that pushes their songs to the edge of a precipice and then perfectly balances them in a precarious position for three frenetic minutes. Like early Glassjaw, Chaos Reigns adopt an “anything goes” ethos that finds them juxtaposing sounds with reckless abandon; angular riffs dissect at impossible angles and rhythms incise with razor sharp precision. It’s a kind of mechanized mayhem; the polar opposite to easy listening and it is never knowing what kind of curveball the band will throw next that makes these six songs such an engaging listen. A release that pushes at the boundaries of what hardcore can be, welcome to the sound of Sweet Violence.
Review by Peter Dennis.