Band:	Chaver
Album:	Of Gloom
Style:	Death metal, Hardcore
Release date:	September 2023

01. Throne
02. Of Filth
03. Turn To Skeletons
04. Wanderer
05. In The Depths
06. Eternal Night
07. Cries Of Despair
08. Abysmal Maze
09. The Stench Of Decay
10. Everlasting Grief

The majority of the articles that I can see concerning Chaver’s Of Gloom are about the fact that it shares cover art with the new Doja Cat release. The majority of articles about this album should be discussing how it’s a ferocious assault on the senses.

One of the more intriguing things I’ve learnt about myself in the course of contributing for Metal Storm is that, despite enjoying a number of albums categorized as hardcore, in reality I don’t particularly like hardcore, or at least not the classic version of it (and this extends to metallic hardcore). This was really underlined by Capra’s Errors, an album that Nejde wrote very fondly of, and yet one that, despite seeming to be a well-crafted example of hardcore punk, did very little for me. On reflection, the bands that I’ve recently enjoyed that are tagged as hardcore – the likes of Hexis, Harm's Way, Unfurl, Telos and so on – are usually integrating elements of hardcore alongside extreme metal styles, or doing weird things adjacent to the style, resulting in a more belligerent, vicious and emphatic sound.

The above also applies to Chaver, who once were a thrashy hardcore band in their past iteration as Labdam, and who are signed to a hardcore label (Beatdown Hardwear), and who are referred to everywhere as hardcore, but whose new album Of Gloom bears only a loose resemblance to bands such as Capra. There’s still a firm hardcore component to Of Gloom; the most obvious example is “Cries Of Despair”, which opens with beatdown riffing, and which later launches into a nasty breakdown. The vocal style across the record is also rooted in hardcore screaming throughout; however, the instrumental work on other songs owes more than a little of its existence to metal.

Now, the most popular styles to cross over with hardcore at the moment seem to be black metal and sludge metal, as I’ve recently mentioned in reviews of Rorcal and Hexis, and both play their part in the writing here as well. There are blackened tremolo riffs on the likes of “Of Filth” and “Turn To Skeletons”, the latter of which is accompanied by blasting; however, the same songs also exhibit a sludgy grimness in other sections. Another metal genre that can be detected at times while listening to Of Gloom, however, is death metal; there’s a buzzsaw tone to riffs on certain songs, like “In The Depths” and “Eternal Night”.

Of the bands I mentioned earlier, the one that comes most to mind when listening to Chaver is Hexis; while not having the same sheer bludgeoning force as there was on last year's Aeternum from the Danes, particularly on the percussion front, there’s a lot of riffs here that have the same bulldozing feel, especially on tracks such as “Wanderer”. On the flip side, Chaver can be more chaotic and savage than Hexis, drawing from the more frenetic side of hardcore and other styles; “In The Depths” is particularly aggressive, alternating full-blooded blasting savagery with nasty beatdown chugs.

With all of this brought together, it is likely not a surprise to hear that Of Gloom is a punishing listen, one engulfed in an oppressive aura; the seamless transitions between several of the songs help sustain this atmosphere by not allowing for any let-up in the band’s assault, with the only real quiet moments on the album coming in the subdued closing sections of “Cries Of Despair” and the dark ambient interlude track “The Stench Of Decay”. There are meaty, satisfying grooves alongside outbursts of violence, yet there are also strong hooks; “Wanderer”, “Eternal Night” and “Cries Of Despair” in particular manage to root themselves in your head, especially the latter song with its breakdown, an element that is made more effective by only occurring in this one instance.

My favourite song on the record, however, is closing track “Everlasting Grief”, which is also the one that feels the most distant from hardcore. It’s one of the least aggressive, aside from the usual demented shrieks; there’s more ominous blackened textures rather than vicious riffs, there’s atmospheric tom-heavy drum patterns, and there’s even clean-sung guest vocals from Susan Speer adding the closest thing there is to a melody on the record. It’s an effective change of pace coming at the end of an album that has, up to this point, been consistently abrasive.

Still, while “Everlasting Grief” is an enjoyable change of pace, that’s not to downplay the impact of the preceding material; Of Gloom is fierce and powerful, and Chaver are a solid contributor to the growing field of hardcore-extreme metal hybrids.