Chosen Ireland

"After a turbulent history of transatlantic relocations, break-ups, reunions and hiatuses, the Irish extreme metal act Chosen are finally ready to released their debut full-length "Resolution". And, chances are that the album will enjoy much success among fans of the more tech/prog-oriented type of extreme metal.

While not insanely technical, Chosen's nine tracks on the album are nonetheless quite progressively oriented and definitely belong to the more sophisticated end of the extreme metal continuum. Drawing on both death metal and djent-thrash with a slight touch of metalcore and melodic death metal, "Resolution" is a rather eclectic album and may be compared to as diverse artists as Death, Atheist, In Flames, Nevermore, and Opeth. And all of this is wrapped in Meshuggah-esque grooves. Although inspirations from these and other artists may be traced throughout the album, "Resolution" stands on its own as an original work of art. A major attraction point is the Irish duo's talent for writing crushingly heavy riffs that punch you in the gut and leave you breathless, while your mind is being challenged by the progressive aspect of their music.

The Irish duo's musicianship is top notch, and the production is clean and well-defined, but not too polished. The vocals are primarily harsh and lean more towards metalcore-informed screaming than towards guttural growls, and, while nowhere near as annoying as all out screamo hysteria, this is a vocals style that might not appeal to all fans of death metal. I have no problems with it, though. There are also clean vocals every now and then, which add a melodic feel to the album.

In all, "Resolution" is an artistically successful, and quite original, opus of progressively oriented and sophisticated extreme metal which combines the progressiveness of the likes of Death, Atheist, and Opeth with the crushing grooves of Meshuggah into a riff-driven metallic onslaught which offers both fuel for your fire and food for your thoughts.

(review originally released on metalmusicarchives.com)"