Channeling early 2000s metalcore with a cinematic edge, the rising frontman delivers a volatile mission statement for a new generation.
By: Robert Solomon
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If nu-metal ever died, no one told Max Chaos. “Ride The Wave,” the debut single from the Great North’s latest entrant into the heavy music sphere, is a scorched-earth reminder that angst, riffs, and visceral catharsis never really go out of style, especially when delivered with conviction and craft.
Produced by Dan McConomy (Agent Steel, Overdose) and mastered by genre legend Maor Applebaum (Voivod, Dream Theater), “Ride The Wave” doesn’t waste time with subtlety. It kicks open the door with a wall of guitars and a double-kick drum assault from longtime bandmate Justin Kills that sounds like it was engineered to snap necks in the pit. Max himself—who handles vocals and guitars—leads the charge with a voice that shape-shifts between guttural roars and clean, emotionally raw choruses. His delivery isn’t just technical; it’s theatrical, unfiltered, and intentionally chaotic.
There’s a mythos already forming around the project. From the band’s grimly cinematic visuals to the promise of a comic book series based on each track, Max Chaos is building something larger than an album rollout. It’s a world. And “Ride The Wave” feels like a mission statement: a fusion of political frustration, personal anguish, and unrelenting sonic force. It’s not just about destruction; it’s about survival in the wreckage.
Lyrically, “Ride The Wave” stays true to its genre roots. Lines like “Scream my name through static pain” and “Riding through the fire just to feel the fall” echo the melodrama and disillusionment that defined the early-2000s golden age of bands like Slipknot, Mudvayne, and early Avenged Sevenfold. But there’s a slightly more modern sensibility at play here—clean production, layered arrangements, and an understanding of dynamics that makes the final breakdown hit even harder.
If there’s a knock on the single, it’s one of familiarity. The bones of “Ride The Wave” are built from blueprints that any metalcore or nu-metal fan could sketch in their sleep: palm-muted chugs, mid-tempo mosh calls, a soaring clean-hook, and a cinematic outro. But it’s the delivery—Max’s unrelenting vocal presence and Kills’ airtight drumming—that pushes it just far enough past genre pastiche into something more compelling.
The addition of Karlos Doom (of Evil Dead and ex-Agent Steel) on bass feels less like a recruitment and more like weaponization. His tone adds a low-end brutality that underpins the track’s heaviest moments with real menace, ensuring this isn’t just studio polish but live-show ammunition.
“Ride The Wave” doesn’t only reinvent the wheel but also sharpens the spikes on the rims. It’s not an art-school deconstruction of metal; it’s a battle cry for the bruised, a middle finger with melody. For a debut single, it’s remarkably self-assured, and if it’s any indication of the coming Order of Mayhem LP, Max Chaos may very well be riding something bigger than a wave. A storm’s brewing, and they’re steering straight into it.
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