Chaosweaver – Enter the Realm of the Dopelgänger CD review

Sub genres of metal are getting weirder and weirder and now with the rise of what is known as “Cinematic Extreme Metal”, fronted by pioneers Chaosweaver, we have finally got a type of metal that combines both the hell razing brutalness of black metal and the melodic beauties of symphonic metal all done on an epic and grandeur scale. Bands may have tried before to create such a magnificent sound, but no one does it better than the way Chaosweaver has made their new album, Enter the Realm of the Dopelgänger sound. Made up of nine dark, melancholic metal anthems, Enter the Realm of the Dopelgänger every metal head needs in their collection. It’s heavy, it’s progressive and above all it’s different. One of the finest releases of 2012 so far!

Opening with a tranquil and well composed keyboard intro entitled ‘A Red Dawn Rises’, Realm of the Dopelgänger gets off to a brilliant start, setting the scene for the dark, murky tunes to follow, by putting the listener into a false sense of security. Making them think the entire album is going to be powerful, stirring and melodic, but hiding the sinister sounds that lurk on the following tracks ‘Wings of Chaos’ and ‘Maelstorm of Black Light’, which use menacing and eerie keyboard lines to add interest to these twisted songs.

With tracks such as ‘Infected’ and ‘Ragnärok Sunset’ nearly totalling nine minutes each, there are progressive elements creeping into songs on this album – ensuring not one song is similar to another. You never know what to expect with Chaosweaver’s songs. One minute they sound like the gates have been opened, the next your ears are being caressed with the most angelic voice. Enter the Realm of the Dopelgänger is just one of those album in which you can’t help but listen to every second of it. There is so much going on musically in each song and it’s this diversity, difference and uniqueness of each song that makes Chaosweaver such an interesting band.

Sure, the bands weird sound may not be everybody’s cup of tea, but there are some really memorable tunes on this album that, although may not be memorable for their catchiness, are for their musicianship and twisting song structures. Songs such as ‘The Great Cosmic Serpent’ and ‘A Requiem For a Lost Universe’ may have lyrics that talk about nothing in particular, but the opening riffs, atmospheric bridges and odd instrumental solo shows make these songs as good as they are.

With very gloomy, Picasso like artwork to top this outstanding release off, Chaosweaver have released an album that will appeal to many a metal head, writing songs that combine elements of all sub genres of metal to create a sound bigger and better than all others! [9/10]