Chaos Over Cosmos is a project that was founded in 2017 by two men who’d never met in person, yet knew that their boundaries mean nothing when it comes to creating music with each other. With the huge file-sharing capabilities musicians have now, Javier Calderón (now ex-vocalist) and Rafal Bowman (guitars, synths, and programming) set out to create the 5 track album they called “The Unknown Voyage”.
“The Unknown Voyage” has actually witnessed two releases; the first was on September 7th, 2018 with a re-issue coming out on April, 2020.
The album could be tagged as Power Metal, Progressive Rock, Ambient, SCI-FI Metal, along with an almost Gothic flavor at times thanks to the synth work.
I approached this with some skepticism as I took my initial listen to the album, the genre itself isn’t one that I listen to often, and I’m generally not a fan of projects that are totally internet based.
I did my best to put my biases aside, but at first I wasn’t into what Javier and Rafal created for album. I couldn’t help but be impressed by the guitar playing though, which was precise, and full of technical skills. Javier’s vocal style is also pleasing, consisting of mostly clean tones with a decent range; all of which were executed very nicely in the record.
As I got further into the album I found that my initial apprehensions were unwarranted, that this is a very cool record indeed, and that I should never judge a band by it’s genre; none of us should, because we’re missing killer music by doing so. Let’s talk about a couple of my favorite tracks, starting with “The Compass”. My favorite track as aforementioned “The Compass”, which is an almost 11 minute long track that is full of melody, fantastic songwriting, and a great series of guitar parts.
The intro is incredible. That clean arpeggiated guitar with a distorted riff over it is so catchy that I was irritated when it stopped. Thankfully verses were equally as memorable, but neither verses compare to the chorus; the way the music and the vocals work together is a melodic magic. After the second chorus there is a brief part that created an atmosphere before heading into an extremely creative guitar riff; it’s a really sweet piece, but when all of the instruments joined in, it could come to life in a big way. That part got me every time I played it, the progressive flavors, accent notes, and the sweet solo all made it an excellent part of the track; the rhythm under that lead is yet another catchy part.
Followed that wonderful part another breakdown, which was heavier, before leading back into the chorus. I loved this track, and everything about it from the beginning to the end. The album’s closure “Sky”, a seven minutes track of Progressive Metal riffing. Added into the mix some beautiful guitar solos; ones that are tasteful, yet have technical flair and beauty to them. “Sky” is an instrumental jam, and in my opinion, it wraps the album up quite nicely.
I would say that even if you have some hesitation about this creatively talented band, as I did, you should give it a shot nonetheless. I did, and I’m glad that I looked past my initial biases. “The Unknown Voyage” is a fantastic listen, so go dig in and ENJOY! The rate is 7/10
Edited by: Amged Mahmoud.
