by Sebastian Kluth
Par kluseba
After two regular studio albums, Chilean symphonic metal quartet Chaos Magic around lead singer Caterina Nix offers an extended play featuring four quite diversified cover songs with a total running time of eighteen minutes.
Initially, I was hoping that the band would cover Grave Digger's brutal heavy metal stomper of the same title but the Chilean quartet opted to cover Sting's ''Desert Rose''. It features inspired guest vocals by Zaher Zorgati of progressive power metal band Myrath from Tunisia. The song also features veteran drummer Mike Terrana who had collaborated with former Nightwish singer Tarja Turunen in the past whose music sounds rather similar to what Chaos Magic has to offer. The final result is entertaining but sounds somewhat overloaded in my opinion and doesn't leave any deeper impression. It's the same thing for Faith No More's ''Ashes to Ashes'' that sounds decent without being impressive.
The other two cover songs are however much better. Bruce Dickinson's ''Accident of Birth'' had a rather dark sound in its original version and featured sinister guitar riffs and gloomy vocal effects. Chaos Magic's version sound much more natural and avoids too many sound effects. Caterina Nix's vocals really manage to shine in the chorus. In my humble opinion, this cover version is a slight improvement over the original tune. The band also offers an emotional rendition of Duran Duran's ''Ordinary World'' with wonderful guitar and keyboard melodies and passionate vocals. The original version might be Duran Duran's greatest song ever and Chaos Magic don't manage to equal the original's melancholy. However, the band gets surprisingly close which makes its version a very good song in general and easily the best on this particular extended play.
In the end, one has to wonder who would buy such an extended play. Releasing a selection of cover songs after only two regular studio albums might come a little bit early in the band's career in my opinion. However, these four songs show that the band has multiple diversified influences that might hint at interesting original song writing in the future. The quartet might be on the right track to consequently improve from its average debut album and its decent sophomore release. Ironically, Desert Rose is actually the band's best release so far. This is why female-fronted symphonic metal fans should keep an eye on the group and verify whether the quartet's next regular studio output takes another step in the right direction.
Final rating: 70%
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