Chaos Invocation -"Black Mirror Hours""Black Mirror Hours" comes four years after this German three-piece’s debut “In Bloodline With The Snake”. Once again Chaos Invocation carve up a heady platter of grim black metal that rages like an onrushing storm, black thunderheads crackling tridentine lightning. What strikes the listener first about this one is how textured and layered it is, while at the same time retaining the forcefulness that made their first album such a powerful release."Black Mirror Hours" has a brutal momentum, but it marries this with an undercurrent of dark and twisted chaos, adding depth and atmosphere and distinguishing it from the bleating black sheep that constitute the majority of this band’s competition.There is a ritualistic feel to Chaos Invocation’s music, brought about by chants, spoken refrains and sound effects, that adds a welcome air of Satanic mysticism. Although"Black Mirror Hours" hits the spot in terms of ferocity and darkness, Chaos Invocation aren’t afraid to try things out and progressive rhythmic passages and melodic leads and bass runs loiter about in the gloom, showing their pallid faces when the time is right. They add to the accessibility of the album and the expressive power of the music, without compromising the overall effect or sounding commercial, a trick that other BM acts have tried but failed to pull off.Firstly then,"Black Mirror Hours" stands out due to the staggering volume of things Chaos Invocation get right. But of course all of that would be piss in the wind if the songs didn’t deliver. And deliver they do. Each song brings the listener on a dark and monstrous journey, littered here and there with touches of ephemeral beauty - lingering notes, haunting riffs and anguished vocals that burn like beacons through the gloom, branding themselves indelibly on the psyche.Epic, triumphant and unmissable,"Black Mirror Hours" is still serving up treasures and surprises twenty listens in.Rating: 5.5 / 6Review By Peter Loftus for Imhotep Zine--------------------------------------Modern Black Metal Masterpiece? - 100%Chaos Invocation is a German black metal band, noticeable mostly due to their primitive and grim approach to the genre. The band is back with it's second effort"Black Mirror Hours", and to tell about this release, diversity of creativity has been invoked all over the album.Chaos Invocation's previous release"In Bloodline with the Snake" was raw and fast paced black metal with aggressive instrumental lines, but in this record the band took rather melodic approach. To be honest with, the band have not failed and"Black Mirror Hours" is certainly a melodic black metal masterpiece. Many enthusiasts say that modern black metal lacks the spirit and rather"commercial"."Black Mirror Hours" is a hard slap for them to realize that the true black metal spirit is still alive.Lets go to the album. Although Chaos Invocation is from Germany, strong Swedish influence is heard in"Black Mirror Hours" mainly in the vain of Watain, Valkyrja and such. The album starts with ambient intro of"Delirium Worship and Total Abandon" and then crushes into the malicious fury of black metal. The guitars are fantastic throughout the album, switching from aggressive riffs to melodic rhythms so often. The riffs are backed up by distorted bass lines to create a hell of an atmosphere. Melodic bridges are harmonized in some tracks particularly in"Delirium Worship and Total Abandon","The Mirror","Lord of Our Temple","Walking in His city" etc. Some tracks like"Hypertoxication","Beyond Coming" are fast and void of those melodic bridges. Bass guitars, as stated before, are distorted and not heard mostly throughout the whole release. Drums are creative and really awesome. The drums are varied and not full of typical blasts beats, rather drumming switches frequently to suit the mood.The vocals are superb on this release, to say M. is insane while delivering his vocals. The vocals mainly range in high pitched shrieks, although there are usage of growls, whispers, chants and even clean singing. This diversity is top notch in tracks like"Lord of Our Temple","Walking in His City" and"Funeral Messiah". The production quality on this record is good enough, its neither crystal clear nor damn muddy. It suits and enhances the mood of the album.Overall, this is a very solid release from Chaos Invocation. Fans of occult black metal should listen to this release,"Black mirror hours" is the finest among it's types. Recommended.Review by Imran Towhid