ORDER OF CHAOS Eyehate Swansongs (2008) CD

Australian metalcore in 2008 was doing something genuinely interesting, and Order of Chaos were right in the thick of it, carving out a corner where melodic death metal's sweep and melody met the aggression of the local heavy underground.

Eyehate Swansongs is the Brisbane outfit's full-length, and it earns its dramatic title. The record sits in that productive tension between Gothenburg-influenced melodic death and the harder-edged metalcore that was coming out of the Australian and New Zealand scenes at the time, before the genre calcified into formula. There's weight here, and genuine bite, from a band that clearly listened to At The Gates and decided to do something with it rather than just copy it.

CD. Australian release. A solid piece of the local heavy music history for your collection.

Fans of: At The Gates, Killswitch Engage, Parkway Drive's earlier material, The Amity Affliction before they went radio.