Chamaeleon - Evil Is Good

Ever since the owner of Artificial Sun decided to call it quits and moved onto creating his new label Insane Records, things have been looking quite positive. The Russian based label has been able to sign acts such as the Hellishly good God Destruction, the industrial dance friendly Sleetgrout, and has even managed to re-release Psyborg Corp.'s The Frozen Shrines of Obsÿdÿana. However, when the label transitioned, a lot of other bands were somewhat left in the dark. Some I haven't heard from since, but Greek/Russian techno and aggrotech duo Chamaeleon managed to make it from Artificial Sun (as they were one of the few good bands on the old label's roster) to Insane Records. And, just back in December of 2015, Chamaeleon released their second full length release Evil Is Good. 



You will immediately recognize their sound when 'Penetration' begins off the album; it's a fun, fast paced techno/trance track with a good kick to it. Aside from the sexual samples used in the song, I thought it was pretty damned good. The titled track 'Evil Is Good' introduces revamped aggrotech-ish vocals; think the standard, compressed and squashed vocals dark electro is known for mixed with a bit of growling. The problem with Chamaeleon's previous effort stemmed from the fact that their vocals were so uninspired that they kind of hurt to listen to; with Evil Is Good, they took the time to make them much more tolerable. I still think they could use a bit more work to make the vocals sound less watered down and as if whoever is screaming is drowning at the same time, but it's still good. 

The second set of clean vocals also are re-touched; Azie's accent shines through and the English lyrics that come out don't necessarily flow with the beat as well as it could. It makes me wonder how he would send if he sang in his first language rather than English; I think it would come out a lot better than it does, but it is still passable nonetheless. 

However, after the first two song, you kind of get used to what you're going to experience on the album: trance mixed, Latin American sounding aggrotech. While the sound is appreciated - and very well done - I can't help but say that this has been done one too many times to be completely enjoyed. 

A few surprises can be found further down the line, such as 'Suicide' (fans of industrial rock/metal will enjoy the guitar riffs present in the song). Maria Xoniki of UK's Aftereffect also makes an appearance on the album in the song 'Forbidden'. Her voice is really, really fucking good. I would say that the quality she presents vocally is able to challenge the entire Evil Is Good album, as I do not believe there is a sound more refreshing than the words sung from her. 

Amduscia did a remix of 'Suppression', but I found it to be absolutely weak. The beat was okay (more trancey shit with a dose of aggrotech), but the quality of it was just feeble. Plus, the vocals were unbearably low; I don't know what fuck up happened here. However, C-Lekktor's remix of 'Fall Apart' was an absolute joy ride. The remix was much more Harsh EBM oriented and had a huge dance rhythm to it. Play this track in a club and I guarantee boots will get stomping. 

In some ways Evil Is Good is a step forward (vocals and quality are much, much better), but an unsurprising set list does not necessarily help Chamaeleon out, either. There are a good handful of songs I would put on a personal playlist, but the rest I wouldn't care if I ever heard again or not. This is music for the cybergoth scene to inject into their veins like heroin - because that's what happened there - but for the rest of us, we will pick and choose and move on. 
Mar 10 2016