Artist Various Artists
Album Best of Taste of Chaos, Vol. 1
Released 2006
Label Warcon
Taste of Chaos, Vol. 1 is packed with a collection of 30+ tracks from a diverse mixture of groups from around the world, including Avenged Sevenfold, Dillinger Escape Plan, Opiate for the Masses, Dir En Grey, Billy Talent, Armor For Sleep and Street Drum Corps.
The first compilation culled from the successful Taste Of Chaos tour spotlights the dozens of artists who have participated in the jaunt thus far, paying special attention to this year’s roster.
The discs don’t make much of a case for potential diversity on the tour, the only distinction between the artists being their presence on the emo-heavy first disc or the more metallic second half. With such a vast roster of known names on the compilation, on the surface The Best Of Taste Of Chaos appears to be a greatest hits of a genre largely lauded by skinny, depressed male teens who spend more time primping than their girlfriends do.
Instead, the comp merely demonstrates the limitations of the genre, and makes a good argument for why most of these bands haven’t been able to reach any other demographics.
The bulk of the material ranges from acceptable (Emery, Bleed The Dream, Norma Jean) to instantly forgettable (It Dies Today, Armor For Sleep, Roses Are Red) to ludicrously horrid (Billy Talent’s “Red Flag” sounds like “Weird Al” singing up Oi-punk).
Too many of these songs are far too pretentious to generate any sort of emotional response, and the abundance of “clever” titles seems like a gimmick to mask the overall generic nature of the music. Underoath’s “I’ve Got Ten Friends And A Crowbar That Says You Won’t Do Jack” is a prime example, and makes one wonder if Underoath could actually be a decent band if they spent more time honing their tunes than naming them. Similarly, Thursday’s “I Wanna Hear Another Fast Song” is as rote, bland, and mid-tempo as the rest of the Thursday catalog.
There are few surprises here; most of the compilation’s best tunes come from the exact places you would expect them to. The Deftones provide “Bloody Cape”, one of the fiercest slabs on their criminally under-appreciated self-titled outing, and Bleeding Through’s trademark keyboard touches make the atmospheric “On Wings Of Lead” one of the comp’s most distinctive moments.
As for the lesser-known artists, the most enjoyable are those that shift their formulas a bit, even if the parts don’t make a stellar whole. Fear Before The March Of Flames manage to stand out, mainly because their Converge/The Locust stylings serve as a nice relief from the twelve breakup songs that precede “Should Have Stayed In The Shallows”. Dark New Day aren’t great by any means, but their “Pieces” certainly separates itself from the pack, mostly because it sounds like a Linkin Park/Meshuggah mash-up. This is, of course, the only context in which that combination would be better than the material that surrounds it.
The biggest revelation to be found here is Matchbook Romance, who supply a stellar power-ballad, “In Transit For You”, that spends most of its running time setting the tone with a bare acoustic guitar/vocal arrangement that gives the full-band surge at the end actual impact. Though most of the band’s other material doesn’t match up, “Transit” is a genuinely lovely song that expresses its emotions without resorting to theatrics. Amidst the whiny drivel that encompasses it, the song almost sounds like a ploy, but it works very well.
A couple of questionable representations make two of the best bands on Taste Of Chaos sound positively wholesome. Thrice is covered with “Stare At The Sun”, the most mellow, radio-ready tune in their arsenal, and certainly not a prime example of their potential. Similarly, Dillinger Escape Plan provide “Unretrofied”, a fantastic song, but one that, with its electronics-tinged delivery, bears no resemblance to anything else in the band’s catalog.
However, the biggest problem with the compilation as a whole is the lack of new material. The afore-mentioned Billy Talent ditty is the only previously unreleased song on either disc, making a rather weak case for why you need to run out and buy this.
Since most of the bands on Taste Of Chaos are renowned for their live delivery, and Taste Of Chaos is, indeed, a live show, perhaps recordings from throughout the tour’s history would serve as a better historical document of TOC’s merit. At the very least, a few non-album cuts from some of the bigger artists here would give fans of the scene a little more to be excited about.
Certainly, if you love a couple of the bands on here, and you’re curious what else in that vein is out there, Taste Of Chaos is a fine overview. But, chances are, there’s not a whole lot on here that you’re missing. And even if there is, you’re not missing much.
- By TAYLOR KINGSBURY
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