People are expected to mellow down with age, shorn of their revolutionary spirit and even become comfortable cogs in the wheel. Two decades after their formation, when Kerala thrash metal band ‘Chaos’ releases their third album Bane of Humanity, they sound just as angry, raw and political as they were back in 2005, when they came together to form the band at an engineering college in Thiruvananthapuram. “What else do we sing about in these times?” asks guitarist Nikhil N.R., when pointed at the anti-war, anti-fascism themes that run through their three albums.

Back in 2005, soon after Chaos was formed, they quickly garnered a small legion of die-hard fans who, drawn by their tight, energetic performances, would flock to all their gigs. Earlier this year, when they were on their second European tour, they found fans whom they gained in their previous tour in these countries, returning with a bigger bunch of friends.

“This has been one of the most inspiring tours in our long journey for the kind of response we got while playing 15 shows across 6 countries,” says vocalist S. Jayakrishnan. Nikhil and Jayakrishnan have been a constant in the band, even as the rest of the lineup changed several times. Manu Krishnan has been the drummer for close to a decade now, while Yogesh Pradhan has played the bass in the album.

Just like their debut album Violent Redemption (2013), the first thrash metal album from Kerala, and All Against All (2017), the third album is also replete with lyrics and song ideas that would have got pulverised in the assembly line that is mainstream music production. Independent music, like that of Chaos, exists also for this reason. The opening single It’s Time for War ends unexpectedly just as the guitar solo hits the crescendo, setting the tone for the album. 

Consume Conform, weaved in with a critique of capitalistic values, also points fingers at a generation whom the Gen Z have now begun to question. The catchy chorus which goes Rules of the rat race to which we comply/ consume, conform, breed then we die is as direct as it comes. The song Stand up almost sounds like a remedy to this state of affairs, with its unmistakable call. Incidentally, a mashup of the song with visuals of police action during the recent Jantar Mantar protests led by the Cockroach Janata Party had gone viral. Jayakrishnan lends the rallying cries and the calls to action, with vocals that seem to emerge from an old well of angst.

Although Chaos has stayed true to their thrash metal roots for two decades, the third album is also their most experimental, none more so than the song By the Sword, which blends the beat of ‘Saavu Kuthu’ songs in Tamil seamlessly with metal. The ‘Kuthu’ beats become prominent during the guitar solo, which gives the traditional metal solo quite a fresh flavour.

Images from Gaza are bound to flash across as one listens to Children of Warfare, which has a haunting synthesiser chant that leads to a heart-rending guitar solo, which almost stands on its own. Keshav Dhar (of Skyharbor band), who has mixed all their albums, lends depth and meaty textures to the tracks. The closing track Welcome to Dystopia, which calls out propaganda and creation of religious divides for political gains, is an experimental collaboration with Primitive Sound, a psy trance band. It gives the album an intriguing outro, which is the guitar riff form of the words ‘Doomed’ as it sounds on morse code.

With their third album, Chaos keeps the thrash metal flag flying decades after the heydays of the genre itself. The album, which is now streaming at https://chaosthrash.bandcamp.com/album/bane-of-humanity, will be available on all music platforms next week.