'ChaosBorn' starts off with a pretty speedy opener "Kuolon Tanssi" (Dance Of Death) and shows one of the aspects I like about this band. They do not stick to English lyrics but sometimes have one or two tracks in Finnish on their albums. This song convinces the listener already right from the beginning with interesting melodies, fast riffing and a certain aggressiveness. This track is followed by "Calm Before The Storm", one of my personal highlights of 'ChaosBorn'. Remarkable is the refrain - even though Deimhall's growls are mostly hard to understand you can hear the lyrics quite clear here. Driving melodies and fast drumming give this song its final touch. With melodic guitar riffs the first part of "The Fallen Angel" begins. However, this song lacks something special in my eyes. Part II of this song, which comes later, has more to offer. Especially the main melody is very well-composed. Another highlight appears towards the middle of the album and it's called "Lost In Bitterness". This song shows some nice details that cannot be found anywhere else on the album. Here you can hear one of the two guest vocalists Kakke Vähäkuopus, who is reponsible for the clean vocal parts. In my opinion they are a very interesting contrast to Deimhall's growls. Furthermore there are also some female background vocals by Essi. Underlined with nice melodies and rythms this song really knows how to draw the listener's attention. This one is followed by a short instrumental piece "The Era". From my point of view again something well-composed. The synths are the leading power here and the song works as a break in the album. It is very calm, but creates a dark, depressive and also very melancholic atmosphere and makes you drift away. Sounds a bit like church music to me :) "One With Sorrow" is similar to the opener "Kuolon Tanssi" a very speedy track but has probably the best rythm parts. If you thought that there wouldn't be any more surprises towards the end of the album you're wrong. The whole gloomy atmosphere created by "The Era" is suddenly blown away and replaced by some kind of party-feeling. Even though I would say that Catamenia rather play dark and aggressive music, this one sounds almost a bit happy. The last track of the album (the title track) "Hollow Out - ChaosBorn" reminds me of "Calm Before The Storm" and I would put it on a similar level. Fast, aggressive and yet melodic. This is a good song to represent the album as a whole.

Stand out tracks are "Calm Before The Storm", "Lost In Bitterness", "Hollow Out - ChaosBorn" and if you like instrumental pieces also "The Era". All in all this album shows Catamenia's style at its best and I would've liked if they continued like this. However, nothing lasts forever, and their new path for sure looks interesting as well.

written by Silence

Playing time: 46.14