V/A – The Best of Taste of Chaos / 2006 Warcon / 37 Tracks / http://www.warconrecord.com / Reviewed 23 February 2006

What would really be really nice in one of these double-discs featuring punk, emo and hardcore bands would be if the organizers back-loaded the discs with the most famous acts. Sure, there are a number of acts that have not had their day in the sun yet, but one has to wade through a number of tracks that they’ve pretty much heard before hearing them. There are quite a few bands that have not broken it big yet on this 2-disc set; these bands include My American Heart, Blindside, Street Drum Corps and their tracks continue the same high quality created by tracks like Thrice’s “Stare At The Sun”.

What was really shocking about this set is that I was unaware that Taste of Chaos had so many emo acts; one sees a band list including From First To Last, Killswitch Engage, Bleeding Through and Norma Jean and I guess it is easy to transcribe the heaviness of those bands on the entirety of the lineup. When acts like Armor For Sleep take such a major stance on the disc, all previous visions are destroyed. What is really nice on this compilation is the unreleased Billy Talent disc that makes it onto the middle of the first disc. The distinct vocals are still present on “Red Flag”, but the band seems to take on a Sum 41 brand of intensity that fits their style perfectly. The first white flag offered to the emo/hardcore tension that presents itself on the disc has to come during From First To Last’s “Note To Self”.

The multiple vocals present on the track really scream emo (even taking on Blink 182-like qualities at times) but the double-bass drums that take such an activist part on this disc will make listeners take a second glance. Fear Before The March of Flames’ “Should Have Stayed In The Shallows” is perhaps the hardest track on both of the discs, with much more of a Pantera meets Locust sound than anything else that precedes or follows it. Roses Are Red really blow up the last few tracks of the first disc with a very driven fusion of emo lyrics and guitars with a more hardcore type of drumming. For those individuals into more meat music, disc two is where they should go; Deftones, Every Time I Die, and Shadows Fall are the perfect 3-4-5 lineup to get the disc off the ground.

Top Tracks: Roses Are Red “300 Motion Pictures” / Thrice “Stare At The Sun”

Rating: 7.0/10

[JMcQ]