ChaosZ – 45 Jahre Ohne Bewährung (CD Album – Alice In…/Dark Dimensions)
Genre/Influences: Punk.
Background/Info: The German 80s punk band from Stuttgart has been re-activated on the “Ohne Gnade”-CD, but this other opus brings us back to 1995 when “45 Jahre Ohne Bewährung” was released. We get some extra compilation songs and live tracks as a bonus.
Content: The old-school punk sound is still recognizable and still exciting. This band composed traditional punk music with German lyrics and that’s maybe why they didn’t receive an international breakthrough. The sound is hard and unpolished while you can feel some kind of provocation in the vocals, but still a spirit of pure fun.
A few tracks reveal a harder approach, mainly driven by a furious cadence and heavier guitar playing.
+ + + : Speaking for myself I prefer this album over “Ohne Gnade” although it remains pretty similar in sound and composition. I never linked punk with ‘intelligent’ music, but just fun and entertainment. It’s the kind of music awakening some good-old memories of your first girlfriend and time you got drunk for the very first time. ChaosZ sounds a bit like a time machine getting us back to our teenage years, which for sure were magic years.
I think it was a good idea adding some extra songs and live cuts.
– – – : I get a similar feeling as on “Ohne Gnade”. This is a work meant to please the early fans of the band and punks generally speaking, but it doesn’t bring anything new for others.
Conclusion: I’m not sure both ChaosZ CDs will really bring this band back into the spotlight. I rather got the impression the label did it as a kind of ode and respect to a talented defunct band.
Best songs: “Zerfressen”, “Moderne Krüppel”, Vergiss’ Es Nicht!”.
Rate: (6½).
Label: www.darkdimensions.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Dark–Dimensions–Label–Group/486014725206
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