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Obsession: Order of Chaos

Heavy/Power Metal

4.0/5.0

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Inner Wound Recordings
by Craig Hartranft,  09.26.2012

Most people will remember American metal band Obsession from the Eighties, which launched the career of vocalist Michael Vescera. Before resurrecting Obsession in 2004, Vescera has performed with Malmsteen, Loudness, Roland Grapow, and Dr. Sin, among others. With Order of Chaos, the band returns with their sixth album.

Obsession: with fancy shirts.

First impressions of Order of Chaos will remind more of the Eighties Obsession with a touch of 2006's Carnival of Souls. Fundamentally, this is classic American heavy and power metal: sometimes steady, often brisk, with clear melody and harmony, an assertive rhythm section, soaring twin guitar work, and Vescera's solid vocals. Against modern trends, these are the common strengths that makes for 'true' heavy metal, and what makes Order of Chaos sound great.

Vescera is in fine form, but has some tough competition from guitarists Scott Boland (MVP) and John Bruno (X Factor X), as they truly light up the songs. Their work excels across the album, however, top picks include When the Smoke Clears, Wages of Sin, Act of God, and the title cut. Overall, the album is well-paced, with a mixture of moderate and faster pieces like Forbidden Desire versus Order of Chaos, respectively. Returning to comment at the end of the previous paragraph, the strength of Order of Chaos is the simple clarity of welding classic heavy metal with melody and harmony, whether by vocals or guitars. Both of which, Obsession does quite well. Recommended.

Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.

Obsession returns with Order of Chaos, a strong and entertaining measure of 'true' melodic American heavy power metal.

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The Powell Payne project, created in 2022 is the collaboration of Mark "Penfold Powell (ex-drummer of Psycho Kiss) and Adam Payne (former vocalist of Airrace). With guitarist Adam Davies and keyboard player ... [ Read More ]