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Black metal bands are notorious for having eclectic discographies so I guess it shouldn't be that surprising that ChaosPath, a German band with black, thrash and death elements woven into their sound, have released a compilation after only two EPs and one full-length album. Made up of one of their EPs (The Awakening from 2018) and their lone album (2019's Downfall), Rise of the Apocalypse rounds out its hour-plus running time with three live tracks (one from each of their three studio efforts). Musically, ChaosPath have chosen a sound that would have been at home in the later half of the '80s when thrash was starting to be taken in more extreme directions. There are clean vocals as well as anguished howls, thrash riffing and tremolo picking, and all manner of transitional elements thrown in the blender that is Rise of the Apocalypse. It's not hard to pick up Slayer and Venom influences side-by-side with Bathory and even early Mayhem. It's an interesting amalgamation, and one I find oddly appealing. There's nothing particularly original but it is earnestly over the top and the energy is abundant. The live tracks don't differ much from the studio versions, so two ("The Living Flame," "Doom") are somewhat redundant. On the other hand, when the singer introduces "The Living Flame" to near silence, it sort of evokes the stunned disbelief of the crowd captured on Mayhem's Live in Leipzig. I wouldn't call anything ChaosPath is doing at the level of the bands I've mentioned, but if "typical" black, black/death, black/thrash, etc. is getting you down, Rise of the Apocalypse may be just different (and good) enough to break you out of your funk.