UMUR "Where Chaos Thrives" is the third full-length studio album by Danish, Frederikshavn based death metal act Chronicle. The album was released through Mighty Music in May 2023. It´s the successor to "Demonology" from March 2020 and unlike what happened when "Demonology" came out almost simoultaniously with the COVID-19 lockdown, Chronicle got the opportunity to tour in support of "Where Chaos Thrives". "Where Chaos Thrives" features nine tracks and two unlisted bonus tracks, which are the two songs from the October 2021 "Undivided" single.

Chronicle again (like they did on "Demonology") tapped producer Tue Madsen to produce, mix, and master "Where Chaos Thrives" at his Antfarm Studios, and if I had a few minor complaints regarding the drum tone on "Demonology" those complaints are completely gone when listening to "Where Chaos Thrives", which is a very well produced release, providing Chronicle´s music with the perfect platform to shine.

Stylistically it suits Chronicle to add a little more brutality and growling vocals to their music, which they of course had done gradually over the last couple of releases, but it works really well here along with the more dominant blackened snarling vocals. The instrumental part of the music is dynamic with varied tempi, which means both fast-paced sections, mid-paced sections, and slower sections (although not too many of the latter). The lead guitar themes and solos are incredibly well thought out and performed.

So upon conclusion "Where Chaos Thrives" is without a doubt the best quality release from Chronicle up until now, but if I have to make one minor complaint it would be that they don´t really produce music that is particularly unique sounding. You can hear a lot of influences from other melodic death metal artists (past- and present) and if they could conquer that last border and create more original sounding music they have both the songwriting and playing skills to travel even further. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.