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When Syron Vanes released Bringer Of Evil in 1984, they appeared to be the harbinger of a strong wave of young metal bands from Sweden. They soon frittered away that early promise but, undaunted, they’ve carried on, and anyone expecting a revelatory experience from their sixth album will be disappointed.

The band take influences from Maiden, Tygers Of Pan Tang and Accept and mould them into well-performed, staunchly generic metal songs. Nothing is less than competent, but there’s no inspirational, charismatic moment. Most of Chaos… chugs along on a mid-paced setting, with tracks like Trial By Spirit and Shape Of God briefly holding the attention, but having no long-lasting impact. Occasionally, as on Lies and Sleepwalking, they raise the tempo yet still can’t quite stoke the rhythmic fires. Only with the scorching rifferama of Master Of Overkill do they get close to making an impact. A decent album, but that’s not enough.

Malcolm Dome had an illustrious and celebrated career which stretched back to working for Record Mirror magazine in the late 70s and Metal Fury in the early 80s before joining Kerrang! at its launch in 1981. His first book, Encyclopedia Metallica, published in 1981, may have been the inspiration for the name of a certain band formed that same year. Dome is also credited with inventing the term "thrash metal" while writing about the Anthrax song Metal Thrashing Mad in 1984. With the launch of Classic Rock magazine in 1998 he became involved with that title, sister magazine Metal Hammer, and was a contributor to Prog magazine since its inception in 2009. He died in 2021.