Chimaira have always been a little under appreciated for there music because for a small time they were categorized as Nu-Metal. After acquiring new drummer Kevin Talley and stepping down the electronics Chimaira are at their heaviest and shoot down any haters and give the whole world of music something to talk about. They’re previous work was poised on giving listeners a different sound but still were cast aside as generic and boring but Mark Hunter and Rob Arnold take those remarks and literally shred them apart time and time again in this album. Mark’s haunting screams and Rob’s heavy and melodic riffs make a perfect match in thrashcore and Kevin’s double bass technique will give you a shiver down your spine. The album is almost a perfect balance of uniqueness and inspiration with heavy riffs, Metallica like solos and an overall sound that is driven by anger.
“I shout these words
To those who never listened
I pen this letter with the utmost conviction”
Mark has a relentless voice from the upset, his words are driving and maddening and as always haunting like he is right there in the room with you. “Nothing Remains” is an excellent way to start the album as the only single because its fast, heavy, features a little bit of clean vocals and exemplifies the band well. On the other hand “Save Ourselves” and “Inside the Horror” were poor follow ups but still a decent listen to once in while due to the fact that there are guitar solos in both songs and an impressive chorus in “Inside the Horror”. That’s when the album takes a major turn with the epic “Salvation” which is ironically the salvation of the album with fade in guitar pattern in the intro and dark lyrics describe Mark’s hate of the sameness of life and how he rid of it. The album continues with “Comatose”, a simple yet effective track with a much, much darker feel than the rest of the album also a thumping double bass and a cool bass riff backs up the heavily distorted guitars into the chorus that gives the song a creepy feeling.
Intermission/mid album evaluation:
So far Chimaira have been doing everything right: good lyrics, great musicianship and a good feeling of what the album is about. But there are some minor flaws with the first half though, even though I stated earlier that consistency might be a problem the consistency is nothing more than a scratch but the bass quality and lack of variety is what might totally destroy the album. The bass in most metal music is hard to make out and Chimaira is no exception, I can clearly pick out the rhythm guitar, why can’t hear the bass? The other problem is the variety; Chimaira can only pull of the thrashcore routine for so long until they run out of ideas even though they are quite good at what they do. Overall the album is a about a 4 after the first half but I have a feeling Chimaira will turn it into an outstanding piece of music.
2nd half:
The second half starts off with “Left for Dead” that starts off with mysterious riff as the rhythm guitar and the snare drum come in to give more intensity. The bass is some what more audible in this song. The track continues into a liberating chorus that sounds a little different due to the sampling by Chris Spicuzza and the constant double bass during the verse. Just when you thought Mark’s lyrics couldn’t get any better they do and his voice is projected with even more anger. A little more variety comes with “Everything you love” that starts off with a clean guitar and later a little solo bit and double bass to give the song a dramatic dynamical change. In the chorus the keyboards come in and the song an eerie feeling, very different and interesting. Then comes one of my personal favourites “Blood Lust” that starts off with jumpy guitar riff and the ride bell to give another creepy feeling, then comes the rest of the band to blow the brains out your head again, also some excellent screaming from Mark. The tail end of the album is the best for last even though “Pray for all” is a sub par track that only features low screams from Mark “Lazarus” is a thrashcore masterpiece that features everything else on the album including a clean vocal part that keeps you begging for more.
Full evaluation:
As I said I thought Chimaira was going to make this a better album than it already was and they did. Even though the bass only picked up a tiny bit the variety was very good and the album was interesting all the way through with maybe one filler. As I said earlier the musicianship is amazing and shows both metalcore and thrash influences to make an overwhelming experience. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to thrashcore or even metalcore fans.
To all those who love metal I salute you,
Till next time,
Ironman4444
