CHAOTIC RESEMBLANCE: Nazarites
Opening with a pile driving monster entitled “Wrath of the Lamb” Chaotic Resemblance make a
statement that they mean business. They’re not simply going to be here for a millisecond and vanish,
but plan to be here for the long term. Their latest release entitled ‘Nazarites’ (their 5th release) is a
solid piece of hard rock/metal with modern trappings all over it. 80s metal this ain’t.
Coming from Oklahoma is anyone in this band over 30? It was rather difficult to find information on
the band themselves. The liner notes in the CD indicate who wrote what but no run down of the who
plays what or sings. Yeah in some respects I’m a noob with Chaotic Resemblance, I know Oz Fox
produced their 2014 release ‘Get the Hell Out’ but did he produce the whole thing are just certain
tracks. However just some basic info would be cool. Is the band a 3 or 4 piece? Their website didn’t
give that info. I digress.
‘Nazarites’ however was produced by Disciple guitarist Josiah Prince he delivers up a killer bit of metal
guidance. The production values are top notch across the board, great vocals, drums and of course
killer guitar sounds. Where some of the prior CR albums were spotty in places production wise or just
not consistent there is no issue with that here. In addition Josiah pulled out some fantastic
performances from the Chaotic crew.
There is a lot white noise these days about lyrical content in many releases by artists who claim to be
Christian. This particular comment is not designed to start a debate. Simply put Chaotic Resemblance
make no bones about why they are playing music. They use the band as a platform for evangelism
pure and simple, and I say with quality like this more power to ‘em.
This isn’t fluff and stuff either lyrically or musically. Heavy, melodic and flipping groovy when it needs
to be. Whether it’s album closer ‘Unto the Lamb’ with it’s hard charging riff and pounding drumming
or the bit more melodic single “Passover Prophecy” this release is a monster. A ten song affair that
will have you either hitting replay on your CD player (yeah I know…) or on your Zune, IPod, or Spotify
playlist… not sure if it’s there yet.
Make no mistake this dirty nasty gritty hard driving rock n roll. The type of tuneage you’re getting
here is equal to their look. Metal sludge indeed. Nasty raspy vocals that are emotional and full of
venom without losing their melodic vibe. Guitars that just smoke and peel the paint off the walls.
Drums which groove and breathe. The drums on the title track push the freight and ram it home,
with some really phenomenal feel.
To dive into the lyrical content just a little, those who know me realize that lyrics always take a
backseat to the music for me. Honestly if I’m paying $15 for a CD the music better be top shelf
because as a consumer (aren’t we all, that’s just reality… and I bought one so I could play it on
Heaven’s Metal Streaming Radio) I’m going to be selective about my purchases. So anyway the lyrics
on ‘Nazarites’ are deep but obvious and NOT cheesy in the least. Now the trick with that is hearing
the performance given in the musical context. The ‘Quick and the Dead’ is a prime example.
The first single “Fairest Jesus” on the surface may strike one as pure pap. However listening in the
musical context this personal prayer strikes one deep. They shot a music video for this song which is
quite well done. A slow building track which starts acoustically and ends on a powerful note.
Chaotic Resemblance’s latest album ‘Nazarites’ is out now and be warned that these boys from
Oklahoma take no prisoners. Who says that hard work doesn’t pay off, they have delivered one of
the best releases of 2022. Fan’s of melodic hard rock/metal should be scooping this one up in droves.
A fantastic album, get it.
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