宇宙论 - 波兰Progressive Metal/Metalcore乐队Choas Over Cosmos专访

Volcano Magazine
2 hours ago
16 min read

由于厌倦了处理乐队中频繁的人员变动和成员间的意见矛盾，波兰音乐人Rafał于2017年开始了他的个人前卫金属录音室企划Chaos Over Cosmos。受到Necrophagist，Symphony X，Cynic等死亡金属乐队的影响，Rafał在他的作品里大量尝试复杂的吉他riff和不断变化的歌曲结构，让Chaos Over Cosmos逐渐成长为一支元素丰富的前卫技术死亡金属乐队。在2025年12月15日，Chaos Over Cosmos发行了第四张全长专辑《The Hypercosmic Paradox》。杂志与乐队创始人Rafał进行了一次专访。

（V: 代表笔者 R: 代表Rafał）

Tired of dealing with frequent lineup changes and conflicts among band members, Polish musician Rafał launched his solo progressive metal studio project, Chaos Over Cosmos, in 2017. Influenced by death metal bands such as Necrophagist, Symphony X, and Cynic, Rafał extensively experiments with complex guitar riffs and ever-changing song structures in his work, allowing Chaos Over Cosmos to gradually evolve into a multifaceted progressive technical death metal band. On December 15, 2025, Chaos Over Cosmos released their fourth full-length album, The Hypercosmic Paradox. The magazine conducted an exclusive interview with the band’s founder, Rafał.

(V: Author | R: Rafał)

采访对象：Rafał（Choas Over Cosmos乐队创始人）

采访时间：2026.04.03

V: 你好Rafał，非常感谢你接受我们的采访。这应该是你第一次接受来自中国金属杂志的采访。首先，请你介绍一下你的乐队 Chaos Over Cosmos的历史，你是何时组建这支乐队的？是什么让你决定组建Chaos Over Cosmos？

Hello Rafał, thank you very much for agreeing to this interview. This is likely your first interview with a Chinese metal magazine. First, could you tell us a bit about the history of your band, Chaos Over Cosmos? When did you form the band, and what inspired you to start Chaos Over Cosmos?

R: 你好Jingwen！是的，这确实是我第一次接受中国杂志的采访。能登上Volcano的版面，我真的非常高兴——非常感谢！写下这些文字时，我才意识到“Chaos Over Cosmos”这个想法在我脑海中诞生已经大约十年了。当时，我厌倦了本地乐队中频繁的阵容变动，厌倦了寻找乐手——尤其是鼓手，他们总是找不着，哈哈——还厌倦了处理艺术上的分歧。我感觉是时候创作完全不需顾及他人的音乐了。这正是我选择这种创作形式的主要动力。起初，受当时最大的音乐启发影响，我从融合重金属与力量金属的非传统前卫金属领域起步。首专发行后，我转向了更极端且技术性更强的方向，并在此真正找到了自己的定位。

Hello Jingwen! Yeah, this is actually my first interview with a Chinese magazine. Really happy to be featured here in Volcano - thanks a lot! Writing these words, I just realized it’s been about ten years since Chaos Over Cosmos was born in my head. I was tired of constant lineup changes in my local bands at the time, searching for musicians - especially drummers, who are never around, haha - and dealing with artistic differences. I felt it was finally time to create music without having to look at anyone else. That was the main impulse to start working in this kind of format. At the beginning, in line with my biggest musical inspirations at the time, I started in the realm of unorthodox prog metal mixed with heavy metal and power metal. After the debut, I moved toward more extreme and technical directions, where I’ve really found my place.

V: 你是Chaos Over Cosmos的核心成员，你的歌曲特点鲜明，编排复杂。可以介绍一下你的歌曲创作流程吗？

As the core member of Chaos Over Cosmos, your songs have a distinctive style and complex arrangements. Could you tell us about your songwriting process?

R: 对我来说，歌曲创作的过程相当有条理——几乎没有即兴发挥的空间。在录制之前，我总是会把整张专辑的曲目都完全写好，录制过程中所做的改动非常少——大概只有5%，最多10%。我认为这种创作方式与编曲风格密切相关，但或许这种更系统化、略带数学思维的音乐处理方式，对我来说是与生俱来的。吉他无疑是我创作和“聆听”音乐的主要媒介，一切都围绕它展开。在创作时，甚至在与主唱合作之前，我就已经确切知道哪些部分应该加入人声，哪些应该保持纯器乐——之后我会将这些构想传达给他们。我喜欢将作曲视为解谜的过程，其中每个元素都有其精准的位置和功能。这是一个非常有意识的过程，更注重构建连贯且富有意义的作品，而非捕捉转瞬即逝的瞬间。

Songwriting is quite structured in my case - there’s not much room for improvisation. Before recording, I always have the whole album fully composed, and the number of changes during the recording process is really minimal - maybe five, at most ten percent. I think this way of composing is strongly connected to the style of the arrangementsm but I guess a more methodical, slightly mathematical approach to music just comes naturally to me. Guitar is definitely the main instrument through which I compose and “hear” the music, and everything is built around it. When I’m writing, even before collaborating with vocalists, I already know exactly which parts should have vocals and which should stay instrumental - and I pass those ideas on to them later. I like to think of composition as solving a kind of puzzle, where every element has its precise place and function. It’s a very deliberate process, focused more about constructing something coherent and meaningful than capturing a fleeting moment.

V: 在Chaos Over Cosmos不同的专辑中，你会和不同的主唱合作。对于这些不同的专辑，你是如何选择主唱的？

On the different Chaos Over Cosmos albums, you collaborate with different vocalists. How do you choose the vocalists for these different albums?

R: 所有专辑的共同点在于我开始处理人声的阶段——这发生在所有歌曲都已创作完成、吉他音轨几乎全部录制完毕、鼓、合成器等音色也设置好之后。所以人声录制阶段的加入非常晚，基本上是在最终混音和母带处理之前才加入的。我通常通过在网上快速搜索找到合适的主唱。对我来说，最重要的是主唱的声音要符合专辑的整体氛围。我也非常看重主唱的可靠性和按时完成任务的能力——我希望高效地完成这个阶段，避免不必要的延误。

What connects all of them is definitely the stage of the process where I start working on vocals - it happens after everything is already composed, after I’ve recorded almost all of my guitar tracks, and after setting the sound for programmed drums, synths, and so on. So vocals come in very late, basically right before the final mix and mastering. I usually find the vocalists through fairly quick research online. What matters most to me is that the voice fits the overall atmosphere of the album. I also really value reliability and the ability to meet deadlines - it’s a stage I want to close efficiently and without unnecessary delays.

V: 2025年12月，你发行了Chaos Over Cosmos的第四张全长专辑"The Hypercosmic Paradox"。这张专辑在延续了以往前卫复杂的特点的同时，合成器与riff都更加悦耳。可以请你分享一下制作这张专辑的契机是什么吗？

In December 2025, you released Chaos Over Cosmos’s fourth full-length album, The Hypercosmic Paradox. While maintaining the band’s signature avant-garde and complex sound, the album features more melodic synths and riffs. Could you share what inspired you to create this album?

R: 我觉得这张专辑和之前的专辑一样，我延续了之前确立的技术性和宇宙感，并没有追求什么革命性的突破。将技术性与旋律性、复杂的段落与空灵的空间感、厚重的音色与某种旋律相结合，一直是我们的核心理念之一。这一次，我想进一步强化这些对比——例如，将极其精湛的技术段落与平静、简约的段落并置。至于音乐灵感来源，主要是classical music, electronic music, technical death metal, prog rock和heavy metal.。说到非音乐方面的灵感来源，那肯定是太空，那些或许永远无法解答却依然深深启发着我的根本性问题以及文学。我最喜欢的作家之一是刘慈欣——在我看来，他的"三体-地球往事"系列是整个科幻小说领域最优秀的作品之一。个人经历也是我的灵感来源，尤其是那种怀旧之情和与自然亲近的感觉。

I feel like on this album, just like on the previous ones, I continued developing that technical, cosmic approach I established earlier, I wasn’t aiming for any kind of revolution. Combining technicality with melody, complex parts with space, heaviness with a certain kind of melody has always been one of the core ideas. This time, I wanted to push those contrasts even further - for example, placing extremely technical sections next to calm, more stripped-down moments. As for musical inspirations, it’s mostly classical music, electronic music, technical death metal, prog rock, and heavy metal. When it comes to non-musical influences, it’s definitely space, those fundamental questions that probably can’t be answered but still remain deeply inspiring, and literature. One of my favorite authors is Liu Cixin - his Remembrance of Earth’s Past series is, in my opinion, one of the best things in the entire science-fiction genre. Personal experiences are also a source of inspiration, especially that sense of nostalgia and being in touch with nature.

V: 专辑以带有华丽炫技速弹的纯器乐曲《Nostalgia for Something That Never Happened》为开头，这些速弹部分编写得非常精巧且耐听。在吉他solo方面，哪些吉他手或者乐队对你的影响最大？

The album opens with the purely instrumental track “Nostalgia for Something That Never Happened,” featuring dazzling, technical speed-picking passages that are exquisitely crafted and a joy to listen to. When it comes to guitar solos, which guitarists or bands have influenced you the most?

R: 谢谢！实在太多了。在技术型吉他演奏方面，Symphony X的Michael Romeo是我长久以来的灵感源泉之一。我认为他是一位了不起的吉他手，既拥有高超的技术造诣，又深受古典音乐的影响，音色更是流畅非凡。我特别喜欢他演奏时音符流淌得如此自然——即使是在那些技术性最强、最具挑战性的段落中，甚至可以说正是在这些段落里，这种特质表现得尤为突出。Yngwie Malmsteen也对我产生了影响，不过绝对不是在音色方面。多年来聆听Dream Theater的音乐也深深影响了我。此外，我还想提到的乐队包括Necrophagist、Obscura、Cynic，以及更现代一些的Animals as Leaders和Erra。说到我非常欣赏的迈克尔·罗密欧那种流畅的音色，我必须再提两位吉他手——Shawn Lane和Allan Holdsworth。他们是巨大的灵感来源——虽然完全不属于金属领域，但影响依然深远。他们正是我痴迷于超高速、流畅的连奏以及优美顺滑演奏风格的又一例证。

Thanks! There are so many. One of my longest-standing inspirations in terms of technical guitar playing is Michael Romeo from Symphony X. I think he’s an amazing guitarist who combines huge technical skill with strong classical music influences and an incredible, fluid tone. I love how his notes flow so naturally - even, or maybe especially, in the most technical, challenging passages. Yngwie Malmsteen has also had an influence, though definitely not in terms of tone. Listening to Dream Theater for many years also left a mark on me. Other bands I’d add to that group are for example Necrophagist, Obscura, Cynic, and from a more modern side, Animals as Leaders and Erra. Speaking of fluid tone, which I really admire in Michael Romeo, I have to mention two other guitarists - Shawn Lane and Allan Holdsworth. Huge inspirations - completely outside metal, but still enormous. They’re another example of my fascination with hyper-fast, fluid legato and beautiful, smooth playing.

V: 在这张专辑中，你和主唱Taha "Yeehaw" Mohsin展开了合作。这是你们的第一次合作吗？为什么会选择他来作为这张新专辑的主唱？

On this album, you collaborated with lead vocalist Taha “Yeehaw” Mohsin. Is this your first time working together? Why did you choose him to be the lead vocalist on this new album?

R: 是的，这是我们第一次合作，我对最终效果非常满意。从一开始，我就觉得他的嗓音与专辑的氛围完美契合，而且他演绎的每一段都完全符合我的设想。前任主唱KC·里昂非常出色，但我并不希望新主唱去模仿他。我认为那从来都不是正确的做法。

Yes, this was our first time working together, and I’m really satisfied with how it turned out. Even from the start, I could tell his voice fit the album’s atmosphere perfectly, and he handled the parts exactly as I had envisioned. The previous vocalist, KC Lyon, was great, but I didn’t want the new singer to imitate him. I think that’s never really the right approach.

V: 新专辑"The Hypercosmic Paradox"由你和主唱Taha共同完成，Taha也创作了专辑的歌词。在歌词和人声这两个方面，你是如何跟Taha描述你的需求的？

The new album, “The Hypercosmic Paradox”, was created by you and lead vocalist Taha, who also wrote the lyrics. How did you communicate your vision to Taha regarding the lyrics and vocals?

R: 其实过程相当简单。关于演唱本身——即人声在歌曲各部分中该出现在哪里——我心中有非常明确的想法，并将其传达给了他。至于风格方面，我们只是做了大致的规划，但我给了他更多的创作自由。在歌词方面，他拥有更大的自由度——我不想过多干涉。我只提到了我绝对不想涉及的主题，其余的完全由他决定。

It was actually pretty straightforward. When it came to the vocals themselves - where they should appear in each part of the songs - I had a very clear idea and shared that with him. As for the style, we outlined it roughly, but I gave him more creative freedom. When it came to the lyrics, he had even more freedom - I didn’t want to interfere too much. I just mentioned the topics I definitely didn’t want to touch on, and the rest was completely his choice.

V: 在这张新专辑中，有没有哪一首歌让你们花了比其他歌曲更多的时间去完成？在创作《The Hypercosmic Paradox》专辑的过程中，有没有哪些你们曾经想放在专辑里但后来被废弃的想法？

On this new album, is there a particular song that took you longer to complete than the others? While working on The Hypercosmic Paradox, were there any ideas you originally wanted to include but ended up scrapping?

R: 我认为"Cosmoagony: Requiem"是耗时最长的曲目。这大概是专辑中最复杂的歌曲，不仅体现在时长上，更在于某些段落的难度极高。整个创作过程相当漫长且拖沓——当时我生活中发生了很多事情，所以无法像我希望的那样高效地专注于它。不过最终来看，我认为这反而让作品受益。音乐变得更加成熟，我也有了时间去发现哪些部分需要调整或改进。整个创作过程，算上平时休息的时间，创作过程持续了一年半多——对于仅半小时出头的音乐来说，这确实耗时不短。和往常一样，很多音乐最终都被舍弃了。我只保留那些让我百分之百确信的作品。如果某个段落或即兴段落经过多次尝试仍不奏效，就会被舍弃。我认为这种做法有助于保持高水准的音乐质量和整体连贯性，但无疑会延长创作周期。有几个我原本很满意的段落最终没能收录进专辑，因为它们与整张专辑的风格不太契合，不过未来或许会在其他地方出现。

I think Cosmoagony: Requiem was the track that took the longest to complete. It’s probably the most complex song on the album, and not just in terms of length, but in how challenging some of the parts are. The whole composing process was quite long and stretched out over time - a lot was going on in my life, so I couldn’t focus on it as efficiently as I would have liked. In the end, though, I think it actually benefited the material. The music matured, and I had time to see things I wanted to approach differently or improve. The composition process, with natural breaks, lasted over a year and a half - quite a lot for just over half an hour of music. As usual, a lot of music ended up being left out. I only keep what I’m 100% convinced about. If a section or riff doesn’t work despite attempts, it’s gone. I think this approach is good for maintaining a high musical standard and cohesion, but it definitely makes the process longer. A few sections I was happy with didn’t make it onto the album because they didn’t feel right in context, though it’s possible they might appear somewhere in the future.

V: 除了开头与结尾的两首歌曲外，"The Hypercosmic Paradox"专辑里都是长度超过8分钟的歌曲。这些歌曲结构复杂，其中有很多的变化，在创作时你会怎样记录下这些想放在歌曲里的灵感？

With the exception of the opening and closing tracks, every song on the album The Hypercosmic Paradox is over eight minutes long. These songs feature complex structures and numerous variations. When composing them, how do you capture the ideas you want to incorporate into the songs?

R: 我几乎将每首歌曲都视为一个精心设计的结构。我会将灵感从草图逐步打磨成完整的乐段，确保每一个即兴段落、旋律或节奏都有明确的用意，即使乍看之下可能显得有些混乱。从编曲角度而言，我通常先将构思写成六线谱，若涉及特定音色或乐句处理，还会录制简短的演示音频。由于目前Chaos Over Cosmos仍是一个录音室项目，我不必担心明显的编曲限制——比如一首歌里能使用多少乐器，我可以随心所欲地添加音轨。这给了我很大的创作自由，不过如果我决定把其中一首歌搬上现场舞台，恐怕得费一番脑筋，最后还会因为把事情搞得太复杂而稍微恨自己一下，哈哈。归根结底，专辑的最终成果才是重中之重，整个制作过程都围绕着这个目标展开，所以无论在录音或编曲过程中遇到什么技术难题，我我都会全力以赴，确保最终呈现出我想要的效果。

I treat each song almost like a carefully designed structure. I gradually shape ideas from sketches into fully developed parts, making sure every riff, melody, or rhythm has a clear purpose, even if at first glance it might seem chaotic. From an arrangement perspective, I just write down my ideas in tablature, and if they involve a specific tone or phrasing, I also record short demos. Since I’ve been running Chaos Over Cosmos as a studio project so far, I don’t have to worry about obvious arrangement limitations, like how many instruments I can use in a song - I can add as many tracks as I want. This gives me a lot of creative freedom, though if I ever decide to bring one of these songs to a live setting, I’ll probably have to think hard and end up hating myself a little for how much I’ve complicated things, haha. Ultimately, the final result on the album is the priority, and the entire process is geared toward that goal, so no matter what technical difficulties I encounter during recording or with arrangements, I’m fully determined to make everything sound exactly the way I want.

V: Chaos Over Cosmos的音乐复杂精巧，器乐的编排非常丰富，歌曲的器乐部分占比也很大。将来你会考虑做一张纯器乐的专辑吗？

Chaos Over Cosmos’ music is complex and intricate, with rich instrumental arrangements and a significant focus on the instrumental elements of the songs. Would you consider releasing an instrumental album in the future?

R: 噢，会的，我想迟早会实现的，尤其是我本人非常喜欢纯器乐音乐，也经常听。不过要做的话，可能不会像没有歌词的Chaos Over Cosmos，而是会有一些不同的东西。当然，它肯定会保留我独特的风格，探索我感兴趣的音乐元素，但同时也会是独具特色的。

Oh yes, I think sooner or later it will happen, especially since I really enjoy instrumental music and listen to a lot of it. It probably won’t be like Chaos Over Cosmos without vocals, though, but something a bit different. Definitely with my characteristic style and exploring the musical aspects that interest me, but still something distinct.

V: Chaos Over Cosmos现在的实体唱片都由你独立发行，之后你会打算签约厂牌来发行所有的唱片吗？

Chaos Over Cosmos currently releases all its physical albums independently. Do you plan to sign with a label to release all your albums in the future?

R: 会的，这种可能性是有的。目前为止，我的音乐既有通过唱片厂牌发行的，也有独立发行的。我会根据每张专辑的具体情况、我收到的邀约以及当时的实际情况来单独考虑。为了方便起见，我总是会与分销商合作来处理实体专辑的发行。所以，在考虑唱片厂牌时，我确实会把它们纳入考量。如今的音乐环境让独立发行音乐变得更加容易——厂牌必不可少的时代已经过去了。现在厂牌仍然有用，但选择要丰富得多。

Yes, that’s possible. So far, I’ve released music both through labels and independently, and with each album I consider it individually, based on the specific record, the offers I have, and the situation at the time. For convenience, I always work with a distributor to handle the physical releases of my music. So when it comes to labels, I do take them into account. Today’s landscape makes it much easier to release music independently - the days when a label was absolutely necessary are gone. Now a label can be useful, but the options are much broader.

V: 你有进行过现场演出吗？对于Chaos Over Cosmos这样复杂的音乐，你会在创作时考虑现场演奏出这些音乐而做出调整吗？

Have you ever performed live? With music as complex as Chaos Over Cosmos, do you make adjustments during the creative process with live performance in mind?

R: 我以前确实有过现场演出的经历，但并非使用Chaos Over Cosmos乐队的作品——那是在这个项目成立之前的事。Chaos Over Cosmos最初本应是一个纯粹的录音室项目，但最近一段时间，我一直在考虑偶尔进行现场演出，或者更准确地说，将一两首Chaos Over Cosmos的歌曲融入到其他项目的现场演出曲目中。这并不简单，因为这些歌曲要求极高，而且正如我提到的，很难改编成现场表演版本，特别是考虑到每首歌中录制的音轨数量。但经过一些调整，我认为这是可行的。录音室专辑仍是首要任务，但偶尔，《Chaos Over Cosmos》的音乐可能会出现在现场演出中。

I’ve performed live before, but not with material from Chaos Over Cosmos—that was before this project existed. Chaos Over Cosmos was originally meant to be a fully studio project, but for some time now I’ve been considering performing occasionally, or rather incorporating one or a few Chaos Over Cosmos songs into live sets of another project. It’s not simple, because the songs are extremely demanding and, as I mentioned, very difficult to adapt for live performance, especially given the number of recorded tracks in each song. But with some adjustments, I think it’s doable. Studio albums remain the priority, but occasionally, Chaos Over Cosmos music might make it to a live setting.

V: 接下来你还有哪些计划？你是否已经开始在准备下一张Chaos Over Cosmos的专辑了？

What are your plans moving forward? Have you already started working on the next Chaos Over Cosmos album?

R: 我目前正和几位朋友在本地已非常缓慢的进度创作一些prog-rock音乐。至于Chaos Over Cosmos本身，现在还很难说，但我希望能在今年年底前为新专辑打下坚实的基础。

I’m working very slowly on some prog-rock music locally, together with some friends. As for Chaos Over Cosmos itself, it’s hard to say right now, but I hope to have a solid foundation for a new album by the end of this year.

V: 非常感谢Rafał参加这次的采访，我非常期待Chaos Over Cosmos之后的作品。最后，请对中国的Metalheads们说几句话吧。

Thank you very much, Rafał, for joining us for this interview. I’m really looking forward to Chaos Over Cosmos’s next release. Finally, please share a few words with the metalheads in China.

R: 感谢你，Jingwen，感谢你的关注和提问。我也向Volcano Magazine的所有读者致以问候。我很高兴有像你们这样的杂志愿意报道世界各地的地下音乐。再次表示衷心的感谢！

Thanks to you , Jingwen, for your interest and questions. I also send my greetings to all the readers of Volcano Magazine. I’m really happy about magazines like yours that want to write about underground music from all over the world. Once again, many thanks!