Single Review: Chaos Doctrine-One Of My Bad Days

‘One of My Bad Days’ also brings the band’s second collaboration with a South African visual artist for the track imagery (the first being Martyr’s track image done by Lisa Botes of ‘Art Defrosted’). This time, the band worked with local Surrealist Artist Ras Steyn, who is making a name for himself producing outstanding artworks that harken back to masters like Dali.

Vocalist Dr D explains that “I came across Ras’s portfolio on Facebook, and I absolutely love his stuff. We started talking about a collab, and when the band agreed that ‘One of My Bad Days’ would be our next single, I knew his work would be perfect to reflect the overall song’s pathos and intent. He did NOT disappoint, it is great!’. The artist himself, Ras Steyn, adds that “When Chaos Doctrine asked me to create the art for their new single, I listened to the track a few times and knew that I had full license to amplify my already dark Surrealist style. It’s a deeply distressing song so I had to respond with an equally unnerving and confrontational cover. It was a beautifully dark experience and one hell of a ride! And I’m ready for more of their stuff!”

I got to give metal horns to every band member who played on this track, each instrument, each vocal, and each and every sound is done amazingly, from someone like myself who can probably only play three chords on a guitar I am always blown away by musicians who can play their instrument well and perfect their craft so much that what would normally be hard and not easy to play because of how fast and thrashy the song is, it still looks like the song is played with ease and no problem at all when in hindsight that is so far from the truth, I see you guys and I salute you.

Drummer Jason Eedes recalls the first time he heard the song, sharing “I just joined the band, and the guys wanted to start rehearsing this track for our live set. I was immediately attracted to the ferocious pounding of the drums, ranging from groovy beats to outright blasts, driving the catchy riffs and the spitting vocals. Definitely, one of my favorites to play live!”

Alec Surridge, band guitarist and engineer affirms that “when I wrote this track, I wanted something that reflects my deep love for Swedish Death Metal, but clearly says THIS IS CHAOS DOCTRINE. We took a much lighter Industrial touch this time to leave the spotlight on heavy guitar riffs and maintain that old-school feel, and when Dr D laid down a vocal (that I can only describe as Sepultura-meets-Testament), I knew we hit that magic spot!”

Bass guitarist and band visual artist Phil Carstens agrees, adding that “this track is definitely much more classic old school Thrash: relentless riffs, grooving drums, and lyrics about a mass murderer that freely admits to everyone he killed but refuses to accept any guilt!”

I think metal and rock stations all around the world are going to pick up this song and add it as a favorite to their playlist but even furthermore, I wouldn’t be surprised if top metal publications like Metal Hammer and the likes wrote a piece about it, this song is ace and it deserves all the coverage it can get 

The metal scene in South Africa, like mostly all over the world doesn’t seem to always get out to the masses as much as I would like it to, but I am grateful to bands like Chaos Doctrine who fighting the good fight and they might just be the answer to put metal on the map with the genre to be taken seriously by all kinds of people and walks of life

I can see myself listening to this track when I feel like being angry or if I need something to break or mosh to when I am having ‘One of my bad days, I have a  feeling about this song and this band might just be that support I will need to help me get through it and feel like someone understands

I would like to congratulate the band on an amazing single, and I cannot wait for what the band does next because I just know it is going to be EPIC