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ARTIST: Kaos
ALBUM: Total Kaos
LABEL: Mole
SERIAL: K - 1001
YEAR: 1985

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:

LINEUP: Cindy 'C' Wiechmann - lead vocals * Rainer 'Rhino' Wiechmann - guitars, keyboards, backing vocals * Todd McLeod - guitars * Darren Bruce - bass * Sandy Forbes - drums

Guest: Paul Kinsman - keyboards (#1)

TRACK LISTING: 01 Genesis * 02 Undercover * 03 Big World * 04 Gremlins * 05 March Of The Gremlins * 06 Wings Of Love * 07 Mama

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Background
It's not often we feature a band from St Johns, Newfoundland Canada. This might even be a first. The band are called Kaos, and they were in action between 1982 and 1986. With a female lead singer Cindy Wiechmann, the closest comparison one can make could be to the Ottawa band Jade and Toronto's Reckless. This is an interesting band because even though they play heavy metal, they have a keyboardist. So naturally here at GDM, we take an interest. The band were foemed in 1983 by German guitarist Rainer 'Rhino' Wiechmann (who moved to Newfoundland at a young age) and drummer Sandy Forbes. The pair bought in singer Cindy, who eventually married Rainer, the 'Total Kaos' album released in 1985.

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The Songs
There's lots of twin guitars happening with Rhino and Todd McLeod turning the screws. The spoken word intro to 'Genesis' sounds rather biblical and apocalyptic, coming across like a sci-fi movie instead. It leads directly into 'Undercover', which riffs away nicely in the mould of Fierce Heart. 'Big World' showcases Cindy's melodic vocal, the style of the song dropping into the same zone as Reckless. The freakiest songs without doubt is the pairing of 'Gremlins' and 'March Of The Gremlins'. I'm thinking they may have been inspired by the movie of the same name, which came out in 1984. 'Gremlins' is only a short intro piece, whereas 'March..' is a 3 minute instrumental. We're back into the swing of things with 'Wings Of Love', a good melodic romp, the album concluding with the ballad 'Mama'.

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In Summary
Kaos were definitely not a second tier band. They picked up gigs with all the top touring bands of the day including Motorhead, Alice Cooper and Dio, plus fellow Canucks Headpins, Sass Jordan and Helix. The Helix connection is most notable, as both Cindy and Rhino, who had moved to Ontario in the late 80's, eventually joined the band years later, playing with them between 2004 and 2006. Kaos released one other album, the six track cassette only 'TV Eye' released in 1987.

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