Review by Dominik on March 25, 2025.

Good thing I let this album breathe a bit—because if I'd shared my first impressions, this review would have read like an exorcism gone wrong. Initially, after the first few listens, I jotted down a list of "flaws" that, over time, either morphed into "why not?" or simply lost their sting and became minor grievances. Wherever We Roam… isn't as immediately accessible as its predecessor, and it took me a while to digest some new twists before feeling ready to put words to the chaos. For those already clutching their inverted crosses in anxiety—don't worry. There is no need to trade your corpse paint for flannel shirts. Chaos Invocation hasn't abandoned their core mission and mostly stays true to their formula. No progressive detours, no post-this-or-that nonsense—just black metal the way Lucifer intended, with a few new layers to unravel.

Compared to the band's previous works, Wherever We Roam… leans harder into melody. The guitars frequently weave subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) melodic lines—but, crucially, this doesn't dilute the album's intensity. There's still plenty of speed and fury to satisfy the most jaded nihilist. Where opinions will divide though, is the sporadic use of clean vocals. Sometimes they work, other times… not so much. And for a while, I kept searching for a standout track to rival "Funeral Messiah" or "Triple Fire". It took some months, but I eventually found it in "Engravings Of The Quivering Pedestal"—a song that brings the album home in spectacular fashion.

Once you trudge through the relatively uneventful first minute of the opener, Chaos Invocation slams the pedal to the metal. Blistering speed, tight songwriting, and a punchy production hit all the right notes, proving the band still knows how to deliver the goods. Things stay comfortably familiar until "Bridges Aflame"—the first sign that the band's formula isn't entirely set in stone. Here, a melancholic riff pulls you in, only to give way to a shifting interplay between black metal aggression and sections of restraint, using clean vocals. The riff resurfaces mid-song and again toward the end, giving the track a sense of cohesion that, while carefully crafted, initially threw me off. Meanwhile, "No Throne Withstands" feels like another sonic battering ram. It kicks off with a punkish swagger before exploding into a furious assault that could level any royal furniture unfortunate enough to be in its path.

Things get a bit awkward for the next two tracks. The band, apparently aware of my general disdain for acoustic interludes, decided to sneak one past me like a teenager hiding a bad report card, by simply tucking it neatly into the beginning of "This World Wants Us Dead". For two minutes, you get acoustic picking and plucking before the actual song kicks in—and to be fair, it's not bad. The drummer shifts tempos while the guitars maintain a relentless, steady grind, creating a sense of unease. The first whispered chorus only adds to this unsettling atmosphere—and it works surprisingly well. But then comes the mid-song slowdown, and out of nowhere, the clean vocals hit like a sucker punch. Suddenly, it's as if you've woken up in a fever dream, forced to endure a power metal frontman having a bad day. I get the idea—variety and all—but in a track dripping with bleakness and hopelessness, this particular ingredient feels painfully out of place, like spilling glitter on a funeral shroud.

Unfortunately, standing between the full redemption of "Engravings Of The Quivering Pedestal" and the previous ambivalent track is "Only Darkness"—easily the most "unusual" (to put it politely) song on the album. Subtle sporadic keyboard lines, fragile female vocals, and yet another attempt at clean singing, as if to outdo Blind Guardian's Hansi Kürsch, all collide in a way that pushes the boundaries of the band's established sound a little too far. It's as if Chaos Invocation momentarily forgot they were a black metal band. Maybe it's my age, maybe it's my sheer stubbornness—but even within the album's growing embrace of melody, this track sticks out like me at a dwarf convention.

Thankfully, the band redeems themselves with the late highlight and closing track. "Engravings Of The Quivering Pedestal" delivers everything I wanted from this album but feared I wouldn't get. It boasts the most memorable riffs, and the last two minutes combine the best of Chaos Invocation's new world: a tidal wave of urgent, melodic guitar work, some effective clean vocals (which finally hit the mark), blistering black metal growls, and a relentless sense of urgency. It's majestic without being pretentious, feral without being messy, and a fitting conclusion to an album that, for all its detours, ultimately stays on course.

In summary, my initial skepticism was in most parts not justified, and Chaos Invocation manages to churn out another captivating album. Wherever We Roam… is an album that requires patience. It isn't as immediate as its predecessor, and not every experiment pays off. But when it works, it works brilliantly. It's a journey worth taking—just be prepared for a few strange sights along the way.

Rating: 8.3 out of 10, because when you invoke chaos, a few strange rituals are to be expected.

Review by Felix on September 26, 2024.

Chaos Invocation have made a name for themselves, at the latest with Devil, Stone & Man. This album and its highlights ('As We Have Taken the Cross' and 'Triple Fire' from my point of view) have set the bar high, but surrender is not an option and so here it lies, a new full-length called Wherever We Roam… (associations with the black album of this widely unknown band named Metallica point into the wrong direction). To leave no doubt right from the beginning: the five-piece performs excellently again. Only minor details mar the big picture. I will come back to this later.

Good news first, Chaos Invocation have not modified their style. You can easily guess the reason for this continuity: their approach is already simply great. Sole composer and lead guitarist A. can rely on his fine instinct for combining melodic elements with vehement rhythms. There are some more controlled parts like in 'This World Wants Us Dead' (and vice versa, I hope), but the same track also holds a catchy and stormy chorus. And indeed, Chaos Invocation reach their best form whenever they rush with full force through more or less melodic sequences. Yet this is not to say that a song like 'Only In Darkness' does not convince as well, although it is nearly a kind of black metal ballad. This is the biggest (and only) experiment on Wherever We Roam… and it works with restrictions. Its eight minutes do not lack substance and in particular the ending shows the beastly side of the band due to some sharp and devastating riffs which bring the previous comparatively soft approach to its end. In my humble opinion, the song is not among the highlights of the full-length, but still a strong one.

This leads more or less logically to the question which songs are the most recommendable. Well, actually the opening title track should be a candidate, but somehow it remains relatively pale, not only because of its calm beginning. But it flows directly into 'Ideal Sodom'. Okay, contrary to my assumption, its lyrics do not deal with the best tracks of Tom Angelripper (“Agent Orange!”), but it marks a powerful, diabolic ride through the burning pits of Lucifer’s home, driven by fanatical guitar lines and the expressive, fearsome voice. 'Bridges Aflame' offers different strong facets. Its intensity as well as the right amount of more or less emotional harmonies form a great track. I also enjoy the merciless neckbreaker called 'No Throne Withstands', a hammering, straightforward monster that reminds us one more time that black metal is something that can make your day (or night) better in a matter of seconds. Finally, I have to mention the intriguing, surprisingly strong closer. 'Engravings Of The Quivering Pedestal' shines with almost surreal guitar tones and a high degree of dynamic right from the beginning. Once again, the lead vocals domesticate the acoustic hell around them – enjoy the commanding and imperious voice of M. as well as the break after three and a half minutes. It features a melancholic riff that adds another great aroma to the song which accelerates tempo soon again while melancholy and vehemence coalesce in an awesome manner.

The production is on a par with the very good one of Devil, Stone & Man and so there is just one question remaining. Which smaller details are less successful? Well, mastermind A. is a fantastic composer and surely a very competent guitarist. Even his lead vocals for 'Ideal Sodom' and 'Bridges Aflame' have charisma, although I think it was not necessary to turn M. into a part-time employee. But the clean vocals of A. fail to add value to the output. They seem like the idiot from Iced Earth storming the Capitol; useless, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Especially a clean vocals part in 'This World Wants Us Dead' does not enrich the song, quite the opposite… but okay, nobody is perfect. Given this situation, I can only say that every black metal fan is well advised to lend an ear to Wherever We Roam…, because its intelligently arranged songs definitely deserve to be heard.

Rating: 8.4 out of 10