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Symbolic: Portraits of chaos

04/10/12 || Cobal

If there’s anything interesting about soaking in underground music, that’s the pleasant surprises one runs into every now and then. Luckily for us who keep posted on Latin American acts, the frequency with which bands and releases are frankly good in such scene, as well as their number has been increasing remarkably in recent days. Symbolic from El Salvador launching Portraits of Chaos last year are a fine example of what I’m saying, especially ‘cause before listening to it, I hadn’t ever heard a word from them.

Prima facie, I’d say that last full-length work by these Salvadorans up until today is clear, precise, modern and – Baphomet bless them – unconventional in an area in which nobody happens to come up with anything that’s strictly not within the so called extreme genres, and of course according to most fuckos playing around here, when it comes to extreme music, the more badass, the better. BORING. In that department, the fact of PoC being a heavy-thrash and power metal oriented release makes it rather refreshing.

For good or bad, the staple that caught my attention since the very beginning was vocals. By Rodrigo Serpas, who has been the singer since the dawn of times for this act, vocals indeed work for the originality if this record with its half tessitura lines – meaning not too bass and not too high, genius – which prevent us from listening to the typical super high falsettos once more. Now, although it’s quite melodic, vocals are far away from being clichéd or predictable. Perhaps, by trying so hard, good ol’Rodrigo missed to include a couple memorable catchy choruses that were easy to sing along during an occasional bath or something. Regarding the lyrics by the by, in spite of the fact it’s Spanish their mother tongue, these guys write about death, temptation, decadency and war in English. Not that everybody agrees that’s the best thing to do…

As I said before, these guys play in two teams at the same time: first, the main themes and riffs in almost all songs are based on rapidly picked rhythmic figures inherent in easy to listen thrash metal. On the other hand and at the same time, melodies resembling 90s heavy and power metal guitar melodies are also integrated. Take “Shout of Freedom” for instance; it takes off with a furious guitar picking, only to slowly derive into hyper melodic and almost sweet chorus. Make no mistake, everything is well brought together. The guitar solo in this song is a full surrender to melodic metal and it displays a few virtuosity flashes. As it’s almost mandatory for number 2 tracks, the aforementioned song conveys clearly and elegantly the whole concept behind this record.

Generally speaking, if I were to compare Symbolic’s work with some other act’s, I’d say that the nearest reference is first works by Americans Nevermore with their modern melodic approach, and at the same time technical and almost progressive. The very vocals by Warrel Dane seem to work as inspiration for Serpas’, although truth be told, comparing these two bands’ works is valid regarding the Salvadorans’ intentions rather than their results in this, barely their second opus. No offense here, yet there lays an important difference between a talented band with potential, and a fully accomplished one.

Sadly, if Portraits of Chaos is guilty of anything, that is it never gets to break its own paradigm. Many songs are too alike among them and that makes the listener to feel lost, and not to easily understand the limit between one song and the other. Even so, there are a few ones that frankly stand alone: “Massive Destruction” for being the darkest and most aggressive as a whole; “Scars of War” for its crushing cadenced rhythm, and because its solo (there’s only guitar starring moments along the whole record) is the most creative and best thought in the album, “Gallows Pole” for being the most daring and dramatic, and finally, “Corrosive” that again, fulfilling its duty as bye-bye track, is a huge musical trip.

With regard to the disc itself, all audio production, covers illustration work and booklet design are flawless. It’s always a pleasure to cast a glance on a booklet when it’s worth it, rather than poorly printed as a requirement.

In conclusion, Portraits of Chaos justifies itself, I mean you don’t need to have a huge name supporting a release for it to have some value. The music is well composed and performed, and although we are not in the presence of a prodigious voice, it’s more than proficient. In the end, the final product has been flawlessly made and it sounds great. El Salvador has now an export band in all sense, and for those who can appreciate melodic metal as an expression having much to offer, it’s time to restart building up your personal collection as this beast is loudly claiming its place in it.

Cheers.

Information
Released: 2011
Label: Concreto Records
Website: Symbolic MySpace
Band
Rodrigo Serpas: vocals
Julio Rodas: guitars
Antonio Mirón: guitars
Héctor Guzmán: bass
César Rodas: drums

Tracklist
01. The Eternal
02. Shout of Freedom
03. Massive Destruction
04. Scars of War
05. Souls in Damnation
06. Gallows Pole
07. Decreased Humanity
08. Shadows of Temptation
09. Corrosive

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