PROPAGANDA

This was my second Chaos Code album. Some reviewer here said their best is the second but I haven´t heard it yet. However, I do have their first and I can say their sound changed a lot between those two releases. But their ups and downs remain the same. The neo prog elements (dreamy keyboards, dramatic vocals and beautiful guitar solos) are almost totally gone, while a much crunchier, heavy prog, style is adopted for part of the record. So much that the first track, Chameleon (quite fitting tile) starts with a guitar riff that reminds me of the very early Black Sabbath, you just keep waiting to Ozzy to handle the vocals. There is a lot of horns too, which is not very usual for this kind of sound.

From the third track onwards the music begins a slow return to a more progressive approach, plus some jazz rock touches here and there. And that´s exactly the problem. Although most of the bands I like mix different styles and rhythms, they always come up with something different and that you can identify as their own. Chaos Code on the other side can´t seem to have a personal signature on any of the their works, at least the ones I heard. They are brilliant musicians. They write good tunes. They have good lyrics and a superb and unique singer. But their records sound like different bands playing on each track. I thought this porblem would be fixed by the time they had one or two albums under their belts, but unfortunatly it wasn´t.

Propaganda, like their first, has very strong numbers that you should like it, depending on the style you enjoy. They have everything one band needs to be very big. I really hope they find their own sound soon, or they will be forever a promising band that never seem to fulfill its enormous potential. For now, they are good, but hardly essential in any way. Three stars.