Geometry Of Chaos: Soldiers of the New World Order

Geometry Of Chaos is the new metal project of Italian multi-instrumentalist Fabio La Manna (guitar, bass, keyboards, composer and more) alongside his former Alchemy Room’s bandmate drummer Davide Cardella. As explained by La Manna himself, the album is a concept where there’s a single government unit, not too obscure, that manipulates and controls everything from the economy and politics to people’s lives. The main characters that interact together are man, soldier, and Robot.

The album opens with “Idolatry�, heavy and cool riffing accompanied by Tool-like sounding rhythmic section and although I’m not crazy about the vocals (courtesy of session vocalist Marcello Vieira) I do have to admit there’s something that encourages me to further listen and starts demanding a little of attention. “Joker’s Dance� brings a tech-grunge feel, like a mix between early Alice in Chains and a lighter version of Tool. Choruses are a little too flat and dry for me, however I love the musical aspect of the song, especially towards the middle where La Manna creates a more proggy pre-bridge just as a snippet to the great musicianship still to come. Ethan Cronin, session vocalist and composer, oversees vocals on this song and enhances that grunge-feel with his Staley-Weiland type of performance, he sounds very talented.

“Spiral Staircase� is the one that really got my attention, we are now entering into a denser territory with more twists and complex song crafting and it somehow reminds me a little of The Vintage Caravan, that progressive teasing element that it’s there but never takes over completely, clever accessible music. I like Vieira’s vocal performance here better. “Garage Evil� feels like an all-instrumental part 2 of the previous song and those progressive metal nuances finally arrive letting both Fabio La Manna and Davide Cardella shine and show their talent. The bass line is unearthly, period.

With “Observer� I have some mixed feelings because I usually do not like female vocals on my music and honestly have never embraced the idea, however this time Italian Alt/Prog metal act Feronia’s vocalist Elena Lippe delivers just the necessary tone and theatrics needed for this excellent song. Dense, sludgy, doomy, the song takes us to darker spaces and melodies with retro organ-sounding keyboards entangled with heavy riffing and hypnotic guitar licks. I’m in.

“Saturated� can easily be the peak moment of the concept album. Cronin is back on vocals and La Manna starts creating layers of metal riffs on top the fat sounding bass, AIC’s territory is visited again with a more technical approach but the same anger and creativity. I bet he was feeling “saturated� when he came up with this song and successfully transmits it to the listener. He’s a very talented multi-instrumentalist and songs like this one are just proof of it. “Premonition� takes the previous song’s density and adds even more heaviness to both the instrumentations and the vocals, including some pseudo-growling narrative singing by Vieira. Not my cup of tea but sounds like pertaining to the composer’s concept and the last 2 and some minutes are a melodic force hard to ignore. Finally, the title track “Soldiers of the New World Order� closes the album with more HQ instrumental music, heavy on the atmospheric side, kind of almost psychedelic and Floydish at spots, various guitars intricately deliver their unique sounds while the bass line loops, and spacey keyboards entangled together to welcome the always loud guitar soloing. This album even though is accessible from start to finish still deserves multiple listens to appreciate all arrangements and fully understand La Manna’s concept.

Track Listing:

1. Idolatry (6:57)
2. Joker’s Dance (8:25)
3. Spiral Staircase (8:12)
4. Garage Evil (6:43)
5. Observer (7:09)
6. Saturated (7:28)
7. Premonition (7:54)
8. Soldiers of the New World Order (7:54)

Added: May 28th 2022
Reviewer: Jose Antonio Marmol
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 820
Language: english

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