Interview with heavy metal pen pals, Chaos Over Cosmos

HELL-O again my fellow Necromaniacs.
While the world stays home in quarantine to flatten the curve, Chaos Over Chaos has been way ahead of the curve - the result of a long-distance comprised of band members from Poland and Australia, who have never met in person.

Chaos Over Cosmos perfected this art of remote recording with 2019's self-titled EP.

It's a progressive metal smorgasbord of riffs with spacey flair. Blade Runner-esque synthesizers and science fiction-themed songs, such as "Asimov" contribute to this album's immersive world building.

I admit, some parts of Chaos Over Cosmos sounds a bit too "djenty" and "modern" for my tastes. I usually run the other way when a band likens themselves to Scar Symmetry, but I admire these lads for their audacity and work ethic. They've crafted an impressive soundscape of shredding and crisp production without having ever stepped foot in the same room. At least, as of my interview I conducted with their vocalist Josh Ratcliffe last September. I apologize to Chaos Over Cosmos for the delay, but good things cum to those who wait! Hopefully these gentleman will have chance to catch up and enjoy a well-deserved cocktail to celebrate the fruits of their continent-spanning labor.

Hello Josh! how did you get the idea for a long distance project? Well originally, I can’t remember if it was through Reddit or Facebook, but Rafal and I started chatting with the idea of doing an online metal band. Not to long after we were chatting, I joined my current band Resurgence which ended up taking a massive chunk of my focus. Shortly after Raf and I decided the timing isn't right for us to work together, and That is when Raf found Spanish vocalist Javier and Chaos Over Cosmos (COC) came to light. Raf and Javier released the debut album The Unknown Voyage in 2018 and it's reissue earlier this year.

The whole time Raf and I still chatted heavily about music and with one day finally working together. Raf and I began discussing about doing a heavier project and us both working on it together, but at a more relaxed pace, because Raf loved my vocally and lyrical work in Resurgence’s debut album 'Voices'. A few months passed and Raf asked if I would be interested in taking over from Javier, as he is stepping down due to musical differences. I didn't even hesitate and the latest release COC came out of the ashes.  The idea for a long distance musical pen pal project had always been there. Hardest thing for us is difference in time zones for communicating, so a lot of delayed chatting.

How is the song writing like when one of you is in Australia and the other one is in Poland? I imagine a lot of video calls? 

Actually, funny thing is we have never met, spoken or video called, it is all through Facebook Messenger. Raf knows what I sound like and what I look like, but I have no clue for him as his display picture is blank.  He could have an extremely voice and look like a model, who knows. The song writing isn't too hard for us actually, we have complete faith in each other and still share opinions and ideas about the music writing process, which makes it interesting seeing we both have very different music backgrounds and styles

What's your favorite song of your new EP, and why?

I would have to say "Asimov", as it doesn't have any of my vocals and Raf just does his crazy guitar skills. In all seriousness I like all the songs on the EP. I am just not a big fan of my vocal work as it didn’t get to spend much time in recording, but everyone else seems to like it. My favourite song vocally is Cascading Darkness, for the verses with the way I deliver the vocals. It is more the quick metal vocal delivery I grew up with Lamb of God, Trivium, Slipknot, Killswitch Engage and Daysend.

What's your favorite sci-fi novel? 

Unfortunately, I am not a huge reader and never got into sci-fi novels. When I do read, it is generally some sort of fantasy or crime fiction novel. It is a surprise that I never got into sci-fi novels, as my grandpa was a huge sci-fi fan. Raf is the sci-fi guy with his favourites being all Alastair Reynolds novels from Revelation Space Universe, Dan Simmons Hyperion/Endymion series, Arthur C Clarke Space Odyssey series, Issac Asimov "Foundation" series and Stanislaw Lem "Solaris" and "Fiasco".

Favorite sci-fi film?
I don't have a favourite sci-fi film, but more of a favourite series being Alien and Terminator.

Who are some of your musical heroes?Hmmm, good question. I would have to say Till Lindemann, Matt Heafy, Chuck Billy, Serj Tankain and Jesse Leach.

Do you think you two will ever meet up in person at some point? Maybe play a live show? We will have to at some point, Raf keeps promising to get me beers. I think the tally is at 10 beers, so that will be a very interesting night. Nah, it would be good to actually meet up for beers or no beers and finally met the crazy Polish enigma. I would love to go live one day with COC or even play live together in a different project or band.

Have you played in bands previously?
I have played in a few bands over the years, with being a mix between guitar, bass and vocals.

First real band was a black/death metal that I played guitar in called Born of Chaos, and done vocals in others like The Arbitrary Method, Helens Gate and my current band Resurgence. I have done some vocal work for my good friend Mitchell Mantell, with doing cleans on his debut release and he also helped me out and did my vocal editing for the COC EP.

What's next on the horizon for COC? 
Only thing there can be... new music.

Raf and I have been taking about the next release, with him already having created some riffs and partial songs. The next release will be one giant blend of our styles and influences, with of course having John Petrucci junior, I mean Raf's epic guitar work. We have been talking about redoing a song off the debut in the new style and if I can get Raf to slow his guitar playing down a little, we might even have an acoustic style song on the next release. I'm looking forward to generally just making more music with Raf.

Thank you for going one on one with the GRIM-1! Anything you'd like to say in closing.

It has been a pleasure and thank you.

Listen to Chaos Over Cosmos and their 2019 EP at their bandcamp.