Review by Jack Arkell

Pure evil, and excessively morbid. And that’s just the artwork…

When you think of Death Metal, the Netherlands isn’t the first place that comes to mind. Though the extreme sub-genre is more geographically linked to the UK and Scandinavia, the Netherlands has exported a number of Death Metal bands such as Detonation and now I Chaos, whose well received debut EP has now lead to this first full length record, ‘The Human Repellent’.

As early as opening tracks ‘Scattered Remnant’ and ‘The Admonishment’, it is clear that the band play some of the fastest and heaviest music that you will find anywhere in the world. The question stands though, is this enough on its own? On one hand, you could argue that the album lacks variation, which can be a problem towards the end of the record. However, I Chaos have found their formula, and surely cannot be criticised too fiercely for sticking to what works.

The sheer brutality of ‘Revulsive Butchery’ is compelling, while dexterous guitar solos towards the tail-end of ‘Sons of Slaves’ and ‘Imprisonment’ prove that as musicians, the Dutch band are no one trick ponies. ‘Chaos Revolts’, meanwhile, can be classed as a slow-burner in context of the rest of ‘The Human Repellent’, taking the best part of a minute before the carnage can fully kick in. This isn’t to say that in this time the band have gone soft though, as chugging guitars and drum work which grows in tempo show real thirst for the crescendo around the corner.

Pre-existing fans of the genre will generally be pleased with the content on this debut album, but whether or not I Chaos will be able to encourage any neutral listeners to step over to the dark side remains to be seen.