Review Summary: The phrase 'Anger as Art' comes to mind with this album- but perhaps the beast needs some better restraints?
Chimaira- quite the modern metal band indeed. It's definitely evident in their style and attitude, what with the crushing leads, strangled screams and dark, brooding lyrical themes: in fact, at a glance, one may easily dismiss them as a generic and unispired effort to gel with mainstream metal as best as possible. That is certainly what I did upon listening to their most recent attempt 'The Infection'. All I could state from this record was exactly the above- that Chimaira were 'just another band playing the same, clunky riffs with no real inspiration'. Then I looked again, this time back at a previous album, the vastly superior 'The Impossibility of Reason'. And whilst my opinions were not fully incorrect, they certainly were more misguided than you may have thought.
The album doesn't so much as commence as abrubtly erupt into the wall of noise that is 'Cleansation'. The impact of the song- the gritty underlying aggression that bleeds through it's heart- is something of bestial standards. It hits like a sledgehammer, all traces of subtlety faded and gone. Here was something tangible, something raw, something I could really connect with and sink my teeth deep into. It is this rage that acts as the glue holding the album together, for it passes through every song (albeit in various degrees) and adds that extra little something to an otherwise simplistic 'thrashy breakdowns' recording. Songs like the furious 'Power Trip', 'Down Again' and 'Pure Hatred' manage to grip simply through being some of the angriest music out there today. Don't get me wrong, it isn't ridiculously heavy, but somehow becomes all the more threatening and edgy for merely being primal in every aspect. If a dinosaur/dragon/demon wrote an album, this would be it- powerful and scathing without too much musical talent or overblown technicality.
I kind of like this stupid, masculine sense that anger can solve all musical problems. It's something that I believe has diluted over Chimaira's time: just listen to these songs and then compare them to 'Destroy and Dominate' from 'The Infection'. The difference, in terms of initial attack and seething rage, is extraordinary. It's as if this album is some sort of monstrous caterpillar and 'The Infection' a more self-concerned bumblebee. That's not to bely the strength of the latter album, however, just to provide comparison and an outline of the transistion the band have made. Personally, in terms of Chimaira, it really was their angrier days that did it for me- I could feel slightly unsafe in their shows, slightly bitter throughout my listening time. It just worked so well, the formulaic militaristic savagery. It was a dynamic that really defined the band and this album.
Despite my praise, 'The Impossibility...' is not perfect. There are many shortcomings, in fact, there are many cases in which the phrase 'overcooking it' really applies. For example, 'Stigmurder' allows it's own content to get the better of it- it overwhelms itself by sheer sonic weight where some lighter melody may have been applied. My key critique for the album, the tagline, if you will, is 'light and shade'. Although I like the pervading sense of absolute spite towards the world, it could do with reigning in in some cases. Still, though, it has pride of place on my record shelves as one of my favourite albums. Never a classic, but always with a place in my black heart.
