Band:	Anima Tempo
Album:	Chaos Paradox
Style:	Progressive death metal
Release date:	June 2023

01. Digital Heart
02. The Infinite Eye
03. Deceitful Idols
04. Deconstruct
05. Chaos Paradox
06. Robo-Lution
07. Primal Symmetry
08. Saeger Equation

It’s easy to eulogize the great albums, and gratifying to dissect the disasters (even if one doesn’t make many friends while doing so); the albums that offer mixed results are arguably the more intriguing to discuss, however. Probably the album that has offered the widest swings in enjoyment for me while listening this year is Anima Tempo’s sophomore, Chaos Paradox.

I’d not heard of this group before, although they seem to have some reputation, seeing as they made it all the way over from Mexico to appear at Tech-Fest in England last month. The group are tagged as progressive death metal in our database; it’s certainly a proggy album, and there is some measure of extremity to it, but above all, Chaos Paradox is built upon an instrumental base of djent crunch and modern prog melody. It’s the kind of musical combination I’ve found myself enjoying quite frequently in recent years, and there’s a good number of moments here where I enjoy it as well; there’s just a few more niggles that detract than I would really want.

The album opens with some 8-bit sounds at the beginning of “Digital Heart”, bearing quite a resemblance to the title track from Periphery’s “Alpha”; such sounds do appear on one or two occasions later, but Chaos Paradox isn’t dominated by any video game sound theming. There is quite a heavy presence of electronics here, however; most songs feature some kind of element, whether it’s the lively indietronica oscillations opening “The Infinite Eye”, the faux-strings opening the title track (again, think “Marigold” by Periphery), the skittish trancey synths on “Primal Symmetry”, or some of the more typical uses of ambient synths/keyboards within a prog-metal setting. There’s also further ambitious use of non-metal sounds, with sitar (or similar instrument?) kicking off “Deconstruct”, and sounds on “Deceitful Idols” reminiscent of Monuments’ use of spiritual instrumental tones on The Amanuensis.

Anima Tempo have been ambitious in writing Chaos Paradox, even if the influence of acts such as Periphery, Monuments and Sithu Aye is apparent, and the execution also brings some good outcomes. When the vocals and instruments are in sync with one another, there’s some really effective and hooky passages; “Deconstruct” is a groovefest with a chorus that marries a math rock complexity with a whimsical clean-sung vocal refrain, while the energetic melodic electronics on “Primal Symmetry” are good fun. I also enjoy some of the more experimental moments, such as the metalcore/dubstep hybrid feel to a breakdown late in “Digital Heart”. Additionally, I really appreciate the sections that channel a similar vibe to instru-prog artists such as Sithu Aye and David Maxim Micic, like some of the melodic instrumental passages in the title track, and also the more Protest The Hero-esque soloing on “Robo-Lution”.

Having said all that, I did say earlier that this was a record that loses me at times. I think the most frequent culprit of this are the sections featuring clean vocals; I have no fundamental problems with Gian Garandos’ voice, but too many sections just don’t work well for me. An early example is “The Infinite Eye”, a track that opens in a vibrant manner; in the ‘verses’, when there is gentle singing, I have no problem, but the Persefone-ish heavy chorus just lacks oomph, and the vocal melody takes some underwhelming turns. On “Deceitful Idols”, it’s not the vocal delivery that I find offputting, but the cheesy chorus feels ill-fitting and doesn’t give me any gratification. Probably the one I find most frustrating, however, is the chorus in “Primal Symmetry”, an otherwise lively and entertaining track that is on multiple occasions dragged down by an unsatisfying refrain. It’s not just a vocal issue, though; I appreciate the ambition of Anima Tempo with their songwriting, but there’s definitely a few moments where the complex instrumentation goes in a direction that becomes jarring or irritating.

There’s no song that is overly dragged down by niggles, and the positive aspects of Chaos Paradox are good enough to merit giving the record a try anyway, but I did find my opinion on the album fluctuating almost on a moment-to-moment basis on the first couple of playthroughs, and with more exposure, I ultimately found the parts I didn’t enjoy to diminish my overall appetite for the album as a whole. However, I reckon a lot of those gripes are going to be issues specifically to myself more than djent fans as a whole, so if you’re otherwise partial to this kind of sound, it’s worth at least giving Chaos Paradox a shot to see if it resonates with you more consistently.