Lex Talion – Sons of Chaos

Band: Lex Talion
Album: Sons of Chaos
Release Date: 9th November 2018
Record Label: Self-Release

With a few new releases imminent, I am having to be a bit more selective about the albums I choose to write about and tend to look at much more recent releases, e.g. in the past month or so. However, I do also try and review anything that gets sent to me, as the band has taken time out of their day to write to me and send me their work. I feel like it is important to at least acknowledge bands who do that, especially for a relatively small review site like mine, as it’s just me.

After that small ramble, I was sent a link to the album Sons of Chaos by Argentinian metallers Lex Talion on New Year’s Eve, and so I decided to give it a listen.

The album begins with the track Father. The guitars in this track remind me a lot of Ensiferum, and there is a mix of harsh and clean male vocals, which are almost operatic at time. The track has a swaying tempo to it. Into the Haar follows with a very different feel to the track, it’s almost sinister, with an accordion introduction which makes it sounds like a slow tavern song.

Chaos Path (Overture) is a short instrumental track, with jaw harp and some off-notes which does indeed make it sound chaotic. The title track, Sons of Chaos, is heavier. The harsh vocals dominate at first but there is still a bounce to the music, the clean vocals do come in later and they two vocal styles alternate throughout. The clean vocals at times remind me of Stuart from Sellsword, particularly with the vocal range.

Arise has a slower tempo again to begin with, but becomes heavier and has a faster pace, it is definitely a track you can headbang to. Nightwing continues the heavy and powerful theme, this is a track to up the pace to and start a pit. There are again a mix of clean and harsh vocals. There is a complete contrast in the track with a really calm breakdown, before the instrumental slowly builds back up and it becomes a little more bouncey.

Flesh of Gods continues the heavy and fast theme, and the clean vocals this time are a little more gravelly. I feel that the instrumental is a little more chaotic in this track, which for me fits the lyrical content. Thunders over the Fields again changes the whole dynamic of the instrumental. With a jaw harp, acoustic guitar and war drums, it’s the kind of song you’d expect to hear around a campfire.

The Circle again changes the theme of the instrumental, with a Middle Eastern feel to the guitar intro. There is a gallop to the drums and the more operatic clean vocals are back. The Great Divide again changes the theme, with epic sounding guitar that reminds me of Insomnium in some ways at the start, with a swaying tempo similar to that of Father. Again the clean vocal style reminds me of Stuart from Sellsword.

The final track is King of Death, which is still heavy but is a little more subdued and a little slower paced than the other heavier tracks on the album. There is brass and again a mix of clean and harsh vocals.

The album tells a story, not only through the lyrics but through the instrumentals as well. There are highs and lows in the music as an epic battle or war seems to take place throughout the tracks of the album. The album isn’t something I would normally pick out, I tend to look for album art that looks interesting, or band names and album names that interest me. But I am glad that I received this through email, and I will be keeping the album on my regular list for music to listen to on a regular basis.

Verdict: 7.5/10

Follow Lex Talion on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lextalionband/
Listen to Lex Talion on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1M93pwzoP57d6dTKoqFYnn
Lex Talion’s website: https://www.lex-talion.com/