Uploaded February 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
Chiasm's best quality as a musician is her ability to weave a world into each of her releases without creating a flighty, on the nose concept album. When I listen to a piece of Chiasm's discography, from her flawed but above average Apple Island to (in my opinion) her magnum opus Disorder, I cannot help but imagine a location or a world that Chiasm is trying to convey. From Disorder's cold and lonely, grey and overcast cliffsides to the confining, claustrophobic chambers of Reform to the lofty, bouncy, wanderlust-seeping summerhouse that 11:11 conveys.
The leadup EP to 11:11, named aptly Obligatory, is no exception. Obligatory starts with an exclusive track, "Don't Panic". Something I would say about Chiasm's work, as a long time listener, is that her albums are best taken as experiences, and the opening songs on those works often enough are indicative of the tone of the albums. Don't Panic is a fantastic choice as an opener, the hard industrial sounds of the verses soon giving way to sprawling, nostalgic synths that paint a soundscape of a cluttered street sitting under a broad skyline, down on the ground a street bustling with traffic and concealed emotion, a melancholy that only those with a 9 to 5 job could feel.
Connecting on, there is only one other original song, and it is a different version of a song from 11:11, Obligatory. Yet I like this version far more. Its instrumentation is much more evocative and fitting for the lyrics that Emileigh Rohn puts forth, a much more layered, textured sound with a slower minor development - Piano melodies linger quietly underneath a synth and bass, set to the beat of a mythical, yet programmed drum.
DYM's remix of the song is much more energetic and electric rendition, almost martial in its driving drum-beat as it makes use of both the samples Chiasm used in the final version of Obligatory and the lyrics themselves. Up to this point, the album has had a feeling of a future, a fantastical one that paradoxically is almost unpleasant to live within; as if its people are forced into... Reliance.
A return to a cavernous dread is what Eric Chamberlain's mix brought to the table, a dread dull enough to not be noticed yet one that looms and grows in the bottom of your heart. The sound Eric brings to the song truly bubbles at the pit of one's stomach as the song's nearly seven minutes of playtime reaches its end. But it is Red Flag's addition to the EP that brings the album full circle and gives a complete vision. A future that's bleak and demure, yet with traces of hope and light. That's what Obligatory, the EP, is to me; And though it is not the best EP Chiasm has ever put out, it certainly leaves an impact for its short runtime.
I think Chiasm's music is worth preserving, and it should be talked about and listened to for years to come. But before I conclude, I must say that I was disappointed by 1 thing when I bought this: The runtime of the album totals to about 22 minutes and something else. And I thought it would have been quite clever to have it last 22 minutes and 22 seconds exactly. I even added up a bunch of the album's tracktimes to see, but unfortunately that's not the case. Oh well - You can't win them all, can you?
This EP is a good listen, especially those lovers of Chiasm's style, and you should certainly pick it up and listen to it. Thank you for reading.
Buy Chiasm's EP "Obligatory" here! - itunes.apple.com/us/album/obligatory-ep/504637085
I DO NOT OWN CHIASM OR ANY OF THE MUSIC I FEATURE ON MY CHANNEL. THIS MUSIC IS SUBJECT TO CHIASM'S COPYRIGHT AND WILL BE REMOVED UPON REQUEST!
Chiasm's best quality as a musician is her ability to weave a world into each of her releases without creating a flighty, on the nose concept album. When I listen to a piece of Chiasm's discography, from her flawed but above average Apple Island to (in my opinion) her magnum opus Disorder, I cannot help but imagine a location or a world that Chiasm is trying to convey. From Disorder's cold and lonely, grey and overcast cliffsides to the confining, claustrophobic chambers of Reform to the lofty, bouncy, wanderlust-seeping summerhouse that 11:11 conveys.
The leadup EP to 11:11, named aptly Obligatory, is no exception. Obligatory starts with an exclusive track, "Don't Panic". Something I would say about Chiasm's work, as a long time listener, is that her albums are best taken as experiences, and the opening songs on those works often enough are indicative of the tone of the albums. Don't Panic is a fantastic choice as an opener, the hard industrial sounds of the verses soon giving way to sprawling, nostalgic synths that paint a soundscape of a cluttered street sitting under a broad skyline, down on the ground a street bustling with traffic and concealed emotion, a melancholy that only those with a 9 to 5 job could feel.
Connecting on, there is only one other original song, and it is a different version of a song from 11:11, Obligatory. Yet I like this version far more. Its instrumentation is much more evocative and fitting for the lyrics that Emileigh Rohn puts forth, a much more layered, textured sound with a slower minor development - Piano melodies linger quietly underneath a synth and bass, set to the beat of a mythical, yet programmed drum.
DYM's remix of the song is much more energetic and electric rendition, almost martial in its driving drum-beat as it makes use of both the samples Chiasm used in the final version of Obligatory and the lyrics themselves. Up to this point, the album has had a feeling of a future, a fantastical one that paradoxically is almost unpleasant to live within; as if its people are forced into... Reliance.
A return to a cavernous dread is what Eric Chamberlain's mix brought to the table, a dread dull enough to not be noticed yet one that looms and grows in the bottom of your heart. The sound Eric brings to the song truly bubbles at the pit of one's stomach as the song's nearly seven minutes of playtime reaches its end. But it is Red Flag's addition to the EP that brings the album full circle and gives a complete vision. A future that's bleak and demure, yet with traces of hope and light. That's what Obligatory, the EP, is to me; And though it is not the best EP Chiasm has ever put out, it certainly leaves an impact for its short runtime.
I think Chiasm's music is worth preserving, and it should be talked about and listened to for years to come. But before I conclude, I must say that I was disappointed by 1 thing when I bought this: The runtime of the album totals to about 22 minutes and something else. And I thought it would have been quite clever to have it last 22 minutes and 22 seconds exactly. I even added up a bunch of the album's tracktimes to see, but unfortunately that's not the case. Oh well - You can't win them all, can you?
This EP is a good listen, especially those lovers of Chiasm's style, and you should certainly pick it up and listen to it. Thank you for reading.
Buy Chiasm's EP "Obligatory" here! - itunes.apple.com/us/album/obligatory-ep/504637085
I DO NOT OWN CHIASM OR ANY OF THE MUSIC I FEATURE ON MY CHANNEL. THIS MUSIC IS SUBJECT TO CHIASM'S COPYRIGHT AND WILL BE REMOVED UPON REQUEST!
