On Down Below It's Chaos, Kinski move further from the psychedelic marathons and space-rock they honed over seven years, taking an even bigger step than 2005's Alpine Static into more immediately familiar proto-metal and rock. That previous record balanced drone with endurance tests by way of metal riffs, but Chaos is far more melodic, rigid, and accessible. It could be the record that those put off by Kinski had always hoped they'd make, but I'm curious what the fan reaction will be.
Opening track "Crybaby Blowout" begins with a highwire guitar line that sounds anemic and meandering at first, but when the song makes an unexpected switch to straight power chords, it sounds like drummer Barrett Wilke has found the style he was born to play. It's a new niche for Kinski, but one they inhabit rather convincingly. They've even got vocals this time, though it's not exactly a breakthrough on par with, for instance, Mogwai's "Cody": on "Passwords & Alcohol", Chris Martin's singing over the glistening chords and heavy-yet-graceful rhythm (they haven't kicked the Sonic Youth habit just yet) is unobtrusive at best, but perhaps he just knows when to stay out of the way.
Though the songs here remain mostly instrumental and there are still some moody detours (the foreboding extended intro to "Boy, Was I Mad!" almost sounds like an interpretation of "Greensleeves"), Kinski sound like an entirely different band. "Dayroom at Narita Int'l" is a rather conventional fuzzed-out groove, slow and strutting, with Martin's biggest vocal spotlight about avoiding chaos in an airplane over Japan (yes, it's down below), while "Punching Goodbye Out Front" is vintage blues-scale hammering over a proto-punk rhythm with judicious delay on the vocals, and even comes in at under three minutes. Kinski do manage to stretch out a bit elsewhere without losing the sounding they're chasing: After over two minutes of beating around the bush with crisp guitar arpeggios and flutes, "Boy, Was I Mad!" becomes a screeching monotone stomp with an ominous bass drum that begs listeners to throw up their horns before leaping nimbly into one of their most melodic instrumentals. But the real stunning change-ups come in "Plan, Steal, Drive", from the calm drone to the Who-nodding layered guitar echo, and then, finally, the album's biggest (and most earned) full-band crescendo.
Only for a band like Kinski could a move to blustering hard rock sound conservative, but given their past penchant for drone and the riff-a-thons of Alpine Static, Chaos sounds relatively tame. Look past the crunch of the guitars, though, and there are gorgeous new textures, like the droning horns at the end of the largely forgettable "Argentina Turner" and the unexpected Hammond organ in "Child Had to Catch a Train"-- moments that leave me wishing the band had stuck its neck out further. Some fans may very well appreciate the new direction-- hearing "Plan, Steal, Drive", I'm almost among them-- but I think Kinski are capable of even more.
