Hailing from France, Chags is the solo project of Jérémie Prudhommeaux. He released an album in 2019, "Acheron", which comes out this year. On the album Jérémie did all the instrumental parts and for the vocals called on Simon Perrin. The result is a fairly short record with an intro and five tracks.
'Triggered', 'Bully' and 'Sorrow' are strong death metal tracks with Simon's cavernous vocals. The in-your-face feel, with its highly effective growl straight from the underworld, is reminiscent of Deicide. Memoriam, Entombed and Grave also come to mind for their monolithic, heavy and sticky compositions.
'D.O.W.' and 'Toxic' are much more groovy and thrashy, in the style of Soulfly or Machine Head. Simon adapts perfectly and even sounds a little hardcore on 'Toxic'. The whole thing is bouncy and gets you moving. The only moment of calm comes from the surprising melodic break on 'D.O.W.', which airs the track nicely with a touch of melancholy.
"Acheron" is a good calling card for Chags. We'll be looking forward to seeing him back with a longer album, to see if the promise he shows can be confirmed.