Originally published on www.earlash.com. Written by Travis Yarak.
Its the final countdown as hosted by Svenghoulie. Dio and King Diamond are thrown obvious props in this recording. Keyboards accompany guitars on their galloping rhythmic horses of slaughter that would scare Martha Stewart back into marriage. She would need a man to protect her from the drummers pounding rolls and emphatic cymbal crashes.
Using sparse vocal collages laid over certain segments of songs, Chromelodeon crank out instrumental metal ballads that mix sentiments of space, nerd melodrama, and guitar riffs reminiscent of early ’90s metal grunge acts such as Alice in Chains and Prong. This CD is incongruously fascinating. Also very kitschy for those indie rockers who like to buy Black Sabbath vinyl from Reckless Records in Wicker Park.
Metal-heads would probably hate these guys, but then again metal is pretty serious. Chromelodeons music mixes sarcasm with musical wit to deliver a genuinely crafted book of music.
Mysteriousness: “Outer Space” really brings home the early-’90s Alice in Chains guitar riffing. Perfectly complementing the guitars are stabbing violins and an almost inaudible high-pitched vocal track. Almost three minutes into Outer Space lurks a harmonic symphony and a ribbing Black Sabbath-esque bass. Noisy cymbal crashes typically heard at any arena rock show mar the end of this part of the song, only to bring back the rhythm section in fuller effect than before.
Voder features what very little vocals there are on this album. King Diamond would be proud to hear the “ooh’s” and “eeh’s” by Chromolodeons members.
“Eloquence is Dead” is the last track on this release. Influences of Man or Astroman?, Naked RayGun, and the Descendents rip through the sound of this songs first few minutes. Topping even Mars Volta in their quest to include as much prog sensibility as they can into one song, Chromolodeon rage back with a tense rope of swinging guitars and vocals that sound like they are modulated by the same instruments used by Britney Spears and the like. You know, the ones that transform your vocals into certain vowels to create a compressed effect.
Although Chromelodeons format has only lasted the test of a four-song EP, I would like to see how they evolve as a band, and am looking forward to an LP from these guys. This epic-sounding music builds from space to earth burning all atmospheres in their way. Even Kool Keith could get with the Chromelodeon.
