Kingdom of Salvation - Lost in chaos (2006) - Convincing and diversified - 77% (08/10/10)

The young German band Kingdom of Salvation plays a rather melodic Death Metal with some Thrash Metal influences. It is very easy to get an approach to this solid debut album as the band is very diversified but always straight and heavy.

The band opens with a very straight song called "The flames of revenge" that has a catchy chorus and some surprising guitar harmonies that could also fit on an album from a Heavy Metal band. This song is somehow the "hit", a perfect opener and my favourite song of the band. The title track "Lost in chaos" is a little bit longer and more complicated and has some progressive approaches. The band has sometimes short and quiet symphonic introductions to the songs that could also fit on a Power Metal album like on "Crusader". They also deliver some slower songs like the very dark and doom sounding "Exit human - enter machine" while "Replacing the damned" is much more melodic. The band offers a lot and they are really entertaining even though not every song is perfect, special and innovating. Around their main Death and Thrash Metal sound, they develop some interesting ideas and are surely quite talented. It is a cool pleasure to listen to this album.

The production is above the average but not perfect. The album cover style of Kevin Otten is a little bit too much orientated on the genre's stereotypes and a category that doesn't fit with the band because they do not just write ordinary songs about death, war, violence and pain but also about the Crusades, the society or drugs which is a positive point.

I hope that those guys will go back to the studio soon and work on a follow-up because they have enough talent and style to work on a possible breakthrough. This debut is really promising and even interesting for metalheads who are not that much into the two main genres of the band like me.