Chakora - 2024 - Fractured Fate

(52:51; M&O Music)

Track list:
1. Jesus 4:21
2. Muddy Waters 7:02
3. The Invincible 6:04
4. Somebody Else 5:51
5. PTSD 7:40
6. Beautiful 4:56
7. Golden Thrones 3:32
8. Fading Echoes 5:32
9. Oldschool Criminal 3:42
10. Shadows 4:11

Line-up:
Nikolaj Back - vocals, guitars
Christian Weber - guitars, vocals
Steve Ely - bass
Kay Hemmerich - drums


German band Chakora has been around for a decade or thereabouts from what I understand, but as far as I can tell they haven't released all that much material during that initial decade other than a mini-album that dates back to 2017. This spring the band released their debut album "Fractured Fate" through French label M&O Music.

Groove metal and psychedelic metal are some of the descriptions I saw used about this band when I started doing some initial research about them. I can understand both of them too, although for my sake I do find those descriptions a little bit lacking. They are both correct in many ways, but lack a little bit of context in my opinion.

The way I hear the majority of the songs on this album is that they are hard rock songs at the core level. The riff constructions and the manner in which the songs ebb and flow, move over to gentler or more psychedelic territories for the songs with those expansions, the manner in which the more psychedelic aspects of the musicality is present...what I hear are songs that use the blueprint for 70s psychedelic hard rock and possibly also a little bit of a grunge blueprint at times and then run the final results through a metal filter so that the sound, intensity and the vibes feature more of a metal association than a hard rock one.

Hence the groove in the groove metal aspect of matters on this album, at least in my opinion, are more closely related with the groove found in 70s hard rock than in groove metal, and with similar sentiments revolving around the psychedelic aspects of the landscapes explored on this album.

In addition my impression is that the lead vocals pull in a little bit of a hardcore and possibly also post-hardcore vibe to the proceedings here. A detail that certainly adds some aggro vibes to the landscapes explored and that emphasize the metal associations by way of intensity, and as a feature this type of lead vocals also serves as a natural contrast to the more groove-oriented aspects of the compositions themselves as well as for the more careful and gentler displays found in some of the compositions.

In sum we do get an interesting album. Groove metal that swagger with a little bit of a different groove, with a relaxed psychedelic attitude coexisting quite nicely with a higher level of intensity and aggression. Contrasting features that complement each other and are used to create nerve and tension rather than dissension. If you enjoy hard rock, psychedelic hard rock and traditional heavy metal, and don't mind a little bit of hardcore either, then this is an album that should be right up your alley.

Olav M. Björnsen, June 2024

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/chakora.home
https://www.m-o-music.com/