Screams of Chaos - Genetic War

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My first exposure to Screams of Chaos was on the Raise the Dead Australian metal compilation that Rowe Productions put out almost a decade ago in 1995.  In 1997, the band released an album called Genetic War.  The album was released in very limited quantity and about the only song that most people heard off of it was "War Crime", since a video for the song showed up at the end of a Mortification video.
 
If you've only heard "War Crime" and didn't really like Screams of Chaos, don't worry cause that is easily the worst song on this disc.  Too bad they had to start the album with their worst song.  Seems like a bad choice.  The song is extreme industrialized metal, but they freakin' run the riff in the ground.  Not too mention that the only lyrics are alternating death vocals and distorted screams yelling the words "War Crime".  Very boring!  Thankfully, the song is only about 2 1/2 minutes long.
 
Before I go any further, this album is the re-release that Retroactive Records did in 2003.  They've added two bonus tracks, one being the song off of the Extreme Truth compilation put out on Rowe Productions, and a new song recorded in early 2003 just for this release.
 
As a whole, Scream of Chaos doesn't really sound too much like any band I'm familiar with.  They play industrialized extreme metal that mixes death, thrash, and traditional heavy metal.  The vocals range from death vocals, to blackish vocals, to distorted screams, to whispered vocals, to King Diamond styled high-pitched wails.
 
There is a lot of cool material on this album.  The second song "Genetic War" starts off with some serious double bass action and militant, machine-gun style drumming.  The song "Submission Before Death" takes a drastic turn into dark ambient territory.  It sounds very familar to something that Raison d'Etre would do.  Cool song!  The even do a industrial-influenced cover of the song "Seventh Seal" from Metanoia.  The bonus song "Remember" from the Extreme Truth compilation gets my pick for coolest intro.  The song starts out with almost two minutes of whispered vocals alongside a beautiful creepy piano piece.  The song then turns into a doomy, experimental death track.  The final song "In the Name of God" is the new track and it also starts out with a haunting intro before ripping into the extreme metal that Scream of Chaos is known for.  The chorus is even sung with a big Circle of Dust influence.
 
I really was hesitant to hear this album after hearing the very weak "War Crime" song, but the rest of this material is excellent.  I'm on my third complete listen just today and I'm not the slightest bit tired of this.  I say that if you didn't get a chance to find an original copy of this album, I'd definitely pick up a copy of the re-release.  Especially since you get two ultra cool bonus tracks.  Here's hoping Screams of Chaos has more in them for the future.  (Review by Matt)

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