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Schizophrenia – Chants Of The Abyss [EP]

schizophrenia – chants of the abyss [ep]

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Okay, admittedly. I have always kept some distance from this band. I always thought the name was terribly badly chosen. When you choose to name your Thrash Metal band after one of the best Thrash Metal albums in the history of the genre, you have to be very confident. And to be honest, the band never convinced me for that reason, the shoes were simply too big to fill.

But, going forward, let me get this off my chest. I did listen to the previous (debut) album and it didn’t disappoint, although I kept finding it hard to shake off the feeling that this band has nothing to do with the monumental Sepultura album. So it is the same on this EP, a collection of mere covers. I already couldn’t accuse the band of bad playing or a lack of song writing, now I can’t accuse them of bad taste either.

In barely 20 minutes, the band slides 6 covers in front of you, showing the musicians’ excellent musical taste. First, we get Slayer’s ‘Necrophiliac’, followed by Morbid Angel’s ‘Maze Of Torment’. The choice of these two covers are very obvious and therefore showcase Schizophrenia’s foundations very clearly. With Judas Priest’s ‘Metal Meltdown’ I have a bit more trouble, not with the choice as such, but with the execution and especially with the vocals, which do sound a bit forced here. Misfits’ ‘Bullets’ is a nice choice, the closing track of GBH from which the love for old Punk also emerges. In between, we get a fine arrangement of ‘Strike Of The Beast’ by Exodus.

In itself, this is not a bad EP, but as is often the case with releases with only covers, the necessity always escapes me a bit. A cover on the B-side of a 7″ single or as a bonus track on an album is often tolerable, but presenting only covers is almost a recipe for failure. Then again, it’s lucky that this is an EP and we don’t have to deal with Six Feet Under practices. Again, well done across the board, but perhaps a somewhat superfluous release – and I say that without including the band’s name in the judgement, of course.

Self-Released

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