“We are the soundtrack for the degeneration of society,” quips Dan Altobelli, lead singer of Chaos Theory, with a wry smile. “We shed some light onto what is going on inside the minds of human beings.”
With the release of Chaos Theory’s new independent self-titled
album, the band is shedding light with a ten thousand-watt bulb. This
latest CD was recorded at Big Blue Meenie with the expertise of Tim Gilles
(SOD, Hades, Hatebreed). From the opening echo of “Broken Face” to the
pounding double bass of closing track “Soul Cage" Chaos Theory’s new CD
strikes you with its intensity, power, and anger. The addition of
guitarist Craig Miller since the band’s last independent release, 1999’s
“Unholy Trinity,” has opened new doors for the group. He is the perfect
complement to founding guitarist Ernie Albanesius, thickening the band’s
overall sound. Dan Altobelli provides the bass line as well as his unique
vocal style, which could best be described as a mix of Testament, Slayer,
and Static X. “The amazing thing is he produces two completely different
pitches simultaneously,” says the man holding it all together, drummer
Brian Schleper. “We call him the Ubangi monk of New Jersey, it’s quite
odd.”
But odd is how the band likes to be
viewed. “We’re a metal band who doesn’t fit into the whole metal head
stereotype,” explains Albanesius. “We’re a bunch of clean cut angry
suburban kids, who happen to love loud music.” Originally founded in 1995
in Trenton, NJ, Chaos Theory has enjoyed ever-increasing success. Their
first EP, 1997’s “Scarred for Life,” broke them onto the scene and earned
the band much acclaim. The debut completely sold out of it initial run of
1000, and the demand for the disc hasn’t decreased. Equally successful
was their first hit single, “Karate Chop,” exploding on the college radio
circuit and landing the band as regulars on WYSP in Philadelphia.
“'Karate Chop' was a spoof on people with ‘cool guy’ attitudes,” Schleper
says. “We love that song. That song opened a lot of doors for us. But
we knew we had a lot more good music inside us.” “Scarred for Life”
earned the band opening spots with such bands as Testament, Overkill, and
Nevermore.
The release of “Unholy Trinity” in
1999 spread the band’s name across the country, landing them on both the
Milwaukee Metalfest and the brand new March Metal Meltdown in their home
state of New Jersey. “That show was, at the time, the pivotal show in
our careers,” Altobelli reminisces. ”Thousands of people in a building
with you, just going f**king nuts while I ran around on the biggest stage
I had played on. I was on another plane of existence.” The disc’s
initial sales exceeded the first releases, and helped Chaos Theory’s
popularity grow. “Chaos Theory puts the heavy back into heavy metal”,
fan’s exclaimed.
The year 2000 brought Chaos Theory
together with Miller and the band took some time to work on expanding its
now signature sound to include a fourth member. The result of all that
hard work and time is the band’s new self-titled CD, released to the
world on March 6th, 2001. But why self-titled? “We felt that at this
point, with a new member, we were really starting over again,” Albanesius
says. “We chose the best couple songs from our last two releases to
continue to play live, and focused on the new material. This album is a
new beginning for us in a lot of ways, so we simply self-titled it.”
The new album is song after song of pure adrenaline that grabs you
by the wrists and swings you into the pit. Chaos Theory is able to be
heavy without losing the groove that will keep you moving. Each song is
a quick trip into oblivion, spitting you out the other side like an
anger-management course gone astray. Yet there is more here than meets
the eye. The more you listen to this album, something else will grab
you: the lyrics. After you’re done slamming across your living room, you
can sit down and read along as Chaos Theory goes deep inside the mind and
conscience of humanity, turning on their ten thousand-watt bulbs.
The end of 2001 marked a change in the house of Chaos Theory. Fresh off their north west tour singer Dan Altobelli decided to return to college instead of record the bands new CD. Guitarist Craig Miller left the band to pursue other interests as well. With the departure of Dan, Brian and Ernie decided to take the band in a slightly different direction enlisting the services of vocalist Adam Ritchie and bassist Bill Hendriksen. The result was their most musical release to date, “The Smokey Basement EP”. Only 3 songs but enough punch to smack you silly, the EP set a precedent for the bands live shows. Playing non stop in the summer of 2002 the band was preparing to enter the studio to record its full length debut when again disaster struck. Bill’s personal problems forced the band off the road in early 2003, and it was a break the band wouldn’t recover from. Adam left not short after to finish college and again left Brian and Ernie with a decision to make. Having close to 15 songs ready to record Brian and Ernie looked for replacement members. By 2004 Dan returned to the band and started to write new material with Brian and Ernie. The addition of bassist Nick Schulte rounded out the sound and the band is currently recording a new disc that should be released by the beginning of 2006. The band remastered songs from the Smokey Basement sessions and released them in 2005. “Return to the Smokey Basement” features 9 songs total in a rough mix form taken directly from the original tapes. No vocal overdubs or effects we used in the mixing or recording process and the result is a raw stripped down sound that has come to define Chaos Theory.
CHAOS
THEORY
Dan Altobelli – Vocals
Brian Schleper – Drums, Vocals
Ernie Albanesius – Guitars
Nick Schulte – Bass
