Chimaira, was once considered as just another nu-metal band to be later forgotten, but now, they are considered to be one of the most important band in the “New Wave of American Heavy Metal” moment along with other bands such as “Lamb of God, Shadow Fall, Killswitch Engage, Trivium, God Forbid and so on. There past album, “Pass out of Existence”, had a lot of fast and solid drumming mixed with the heavy power chords of 7-string guitars, the loud roars from Mark Hunter and the electronic effects by Chris. On, “The Impossibility of Reason”, the music goes straight to point of metal; fast, heavy and good. There are no more simple 7-string guitar riffs but more complex and intricate ones which show us the true talent of Rob Arnold and Matt DeVries. Most of the electronic effects are gone and Chris is now more like a back-up singer. Andols Herrick, the drummer, gives us more straight forward and faster double bassing and Mark still has his killer voice. So if you’re expecting another “Pass Out of the Existence”, than you shall be very much surprised and shocked.
Band Members
Mark Hunter: Vocals
Rob Arnold: Lead Guitar
Matt DeVries: Rhythm Guitar
Jim LaMarca: Bass Guitar
Chris Spicuzza: Electronics
Track by track review
• Cleansation: The album starts with this really good song. The beginning starts off with a little electronic effect and then a fast drum roll. The guitar comes in with a heavy riff and some fast double bassing for a short moment. This short beginning sums up all the heaviness and anger on the album. My favourite part would be when Mark starts roaring with the slow but heavy guitar riff. At one point, we actually get to hear for the first time, a Chimaira solo. Although it is nothing too spectacular, it is good enough as it’s there first try at it. The song ends using the same formula at the beginning, and then it turns into a slow breakdown while Mark roars. The main highlight of the song would be Andols (drummer) as he knows when to play the double bassing at the right moments. This is probably my favourite song off the album.
Score: 4.5/5
• Impossibility of Reason: Yet another heavy and polished song done by Chimaira. The guitars immediately kick in with a fast riff over a fast drumming as well. Then comes the chorus which is I think, the best moment of the song as it is slow but yet heavy and catchy. Near the end of the song, the tempo slows down and we get to hear yet again, another solo but this time a much better one. Although the solo has a lot of blues/rock elements in it, it certainly fits well the ending of the song. This song is meant to be fast, heavy and give a sort of “in-your-face” feeling, and with Marks singing it’s even better.
Score: 4.5/5
• Pictures in the Gold Room: The songs start of with a slow guitar riff and drumming (the same structure is mostly used throughout the song but with faster drumming). The mood of this song is in my opinion, rather depressing and scary (that doesn’t mean it’s bad) and the little background effect added by Chris gives it even more odder atmosphere. At a certain point, the song suddenly slows down and we get to hear Mark singing with some clean guitars. After that there is a mini “solo” (like in Slipknot-Surfacing) with some fast riffing and drumming and then the song ends with the same riff and singing from the beginning. The song gives us this scary/depressing feeling as it was based on the horror movie “The Shining”.
Score: 4/5
• Power Trip: Now here comes the very fast and heavy song to change the tempo of the album. Compared to the other songs, both the guitar and drumming are much faster. Marks singing here seem to be very energetic and powerful which is good. We then get to hear a very fast breakdown which should make you feel like tapping your foot and shaking your head. After that comes a very short and simplistic solo (maybe a bit too simplistic but it fits the feeling of the song) and the song ends with the same fast riffing and drumming.
Score: 4/5
• Down Again: The song starts with a very smooth and relaxing piano tune and shortly after, some melodic guitar tunes. After this 1 minute intro, the aggressive and heavy guitars kick in. Although the guitar riffs are really good, I don’t seem to enjoy Marks low “grunting”. Then we get to hear the chorus which should be the best part thanks to Marks beautiful singing (this shows how much potential he has) and Chris’s roaring in the background. At a certain point, there is a little pause for the piano and then we get to hear the chorus quite a few times with Mark singing even better just before the end. Although this song is very good, it doesn’t’ fit, in my opinion, the album as it has a rather rock alternative side to it.
Score: 4/5
• Pure Hatred: Another one of my favourite songs as its brutal, fast and it gives you yet again another “in-your-face” feeling. The song starts off with an effect done by Chris and some cool drum fills. Then some distorted guitars kick with a slow and simple riff that will be mostly used. The build-up at the beginning is fantastic because once the fast drumming and fast guitars start playing, the whole song just explodes. This brutal song is in a way, giving a big “*** you” to everyone. My favourite part is when the song slows down to play this killer part with some good guitar riffing. The song continues using the same formula until the very end keeping all the brutally and aggression in it.
Score: 5/5
• The Dehumanizing Process: Again, we have another brutal song (You should understand if you have seen the “Wall of Death”). The build-up at the beginning makes you feel already quite tense and when Mark shouts out “Explode”, everything does “explode”. The breakdown is slow but yet brutal which should make you want to jump and head-bang. After that, they start playing the same brutal riff but with some fast drumming and a lot of roaring/screaming by both Mark and Chris which is a great way to finish a brutal song. This is maybe the heaviest song on the album.
Score: 4.5/5
• Crawl: The song starts off slowly with a guitar riff and some drumming with a strange background effect. Then Mark starts singing in a very odd and peculiar way which makes you wonder if it’s really him singing. The structure of the song continues like that for a while and then after there’s a really good but short breakdown and the song continues the same way until the end. In my opinion, this is a very long and boring song as there is no variation and the song just keeps the same structure without changing and the voice of Mark is very strange. The only good part would be the breakdown.
Score: 2/5
• Stigmurder: The beginning of the song starts with a fast guitar riff and fast drumming and it continues like this until the chorus where Mark starts singing. The song keeps the same fast tempo and at 2:31, there is a nice wah-wah solo. And the song just continues using the same fast riff. Although I find this, a very fast and heavy song, with a fast guitar and fast drumming, I think they have put more diversity and variety it as we continually hear the same guitar riffs being played over and over again but apart from that problem, the song deserves a decent score as the riff itself is quite cool.
Score: 3.5/5
• Eyes of a Criminal: The beginning of this song starts with a slow guitar riff with a few odd guitar power chords in the background. I’m going to tell you already, the song is meant to be quite slow but at the same time, heavy with the low roaring of Mark and the over continually played destructive riff. At about 2:51, there a very nice melodic/ear calming solo, just like the one in “Impossibility of Reason” (once again, showing the skills abilities of the guitarists). Just after this solo, we get to hear a slow, destructive breakdown with the loud and fast double bassing by Andols. Again, although this is a good song, just like the song from before (Stigmurder), it suffers the problem of repetition.
Score: 4/5
• Overlooked: The song immediately starts off; hard and fast just like “Power Trip” with some good drum fills and Mark roaring with a passion in his microphone. At one point, there is an ear calming breakdown with some tremolo picking and Mark singing once again. Immediately after that, the music starts off the same heavy way until the end.
Score: 3.5/5
• Implements of Destruction: Now this is one incredibly beautiful instrumental masterpiece that Chimaira has accomplished. The intro of this song could be even mistaken to be a Metallica song with its marvellous acoustic beginning mixed with the beautiful effects in the back. This is little intro lasts until 1:26, and then the fierce distorted guitars and drumming kick in immediately leaving you no time to cover your ears. The mood of the song changes a lot; sometimes the mood is brutal and heavy or sometimes calm and more peaceful. This song, basically shows us the true talent of all those in the band; the fast soloing and heavy riffs of the guitarists and bassist, the amazing drumming of Andols with his drum fills and fast double bassing and those incredible sounds and effects that we can hear in the background which create the atmosphere by Chris.
Score: 5/5
Overview
Chimaira is a band whose sound and compositions are maturing, developing and improving with each album. They have proved to us that they could move from a more basic music and sound (nu-metal) to a more complex, talented and intricate type of music. This is album will, in my opinion, please easily any fan of any type of metal, whether its black, death, thrash, heavy etc… And if you listen to their latest album (self-titled), you will notice how much they again improved sound from this album (more soloing, faster drumming etc…).
Pros:
• Use of solos
• A lot of fast drumming and guitar riffs.
• Marks roar is much better.
• Less electronic effects (sometimes they get quite irritating)
Cons:
• Some of the songs can be a bit repetitive as they use the same riff again and again.
Highlight Songs:
• Implements of Destruction
• Pure Hatred
• Impossibility of Reason
• Power Trip
Overall Score
4.5/5
