Review Summary: Chevelle gives us more Chevelle in this lower-tier effort
Oh, Chevelle. Ye masters of straddling the line between accessibility and experimentality, heaviness and melody, darkness and fun. The Loeffler bros are now into year 23 of churning out consistently great stuff, injecting justtt enough life and inspiration into new material to keep things fresh without ever upending the core formula. Their higher-tier efforts (Sci-Fi Crimes, La Gargola, Wonder What’s Next, some truly transcendent tracks in NIRATIAS) burst with life, cohesion, and energy. Lower-tier efforts from the band either involve a creative misfire (The North Corridor) or simply lack in inspiration (Hats off to the Bull). So where does Bright as Blasphemy fit into all this?
Bright as Blasphemy is, definitively, lower-tier Chevelle. The album offers a high floor and fitful bursts of excellence, but is dragged down by two aspects: an unfortunate amount of flat, uninspired passages and some poor decision-making from Pete in his roles as both singer and songwriter.
As to the weaker points, nearly all of them can be found in the album’s midsection. “Wolves (Love and Light),” the biggest culprit, is an aggressively uninspired slice of heaviness-for-heaviness’-sake songwriting. Clocking in at 5 minutes and filled with unimaginitive riffs and boring vocals, it’s a slog to get through. Honestly, my favorite part of the song is that I mishear the first vocal as “Trogdor” which… IYKYK. “Jim Jones - Cowards, Pt. 2” sniffs at some fun ideas but never really finds its footing, with odd vocal choices that never really click. “Karma Goddess” is an improvement, but it’s, effectively, reheated leftovers of the chorus of “Ghost and Razor.” To be fair, “Ghost and Razor” slaps so freaking hard that this song still works. But after 3 consecutive misfires in “Jim Jones,” “Hallucinations,” and “Wolves,” the track definitely left me wanting.
Not all of the weak points are attributable to the songwriting, though. Unfortunately, this may be the weakest vocal performance of Pete’s career. It’s not so much that he’s declined as a singer: it’s clear in stretches of this album that he’s still got the goods. He’s just leaning hard into some of his worst tendencies. The biggest issue is that distinctively pinched, whiny inflection. While it’s always been a part and parcel of Pete’s package as a vocalist, it’s a piece that I, personally, prefer in small doses. Boy, oh boy, does he lean into that inflection a lot on this album. It’s featured heavily throughout, but in specific examples, his performances in “Jim Jones - Cowards, Pt. 2” and “Hallucinations,” and “Blood out in the Fields” are some of the most grating and off-putting of his career. In an odd choice, he apes The Mars Volta’s Cedric Bixler-Zavala in “Blood out in the Fields.” And, like with weaker Mars Volta material, as a listener I find myself doing a lotttt of work to unfocus myself from the weirdness and abrasiveness of Pete’s performance on this album.
All that being said, Bright as Blasphemy boasts some really strong moments. While there are some cool elements thrown into the album’s midsection (Sam’s drums in “Karma Goddess”; strings in “Blood in the Fields”; some cool production in “Hallucinations”), the true album highlights are the two songs that open the album (“Pale Horse,” “Rabbit Hole - Cowards, Pt. 1”) and the two that close it (“AI Phobias,” “Shocked at the end of the world”). “Pale Horses” kicks the proverbial door open with some chunky bass, nice guitar riffage, and some really fun and spastic vocals from Pete. The song’s tempo changes give the song an off-kilter feel that’s fun and dynamic. And also… there’s more cowbell, which is always appreciated. “Rabbit Hole,” a standout, fits snugly into the Chevelle catalogue of uber-catchy, hooky lead singles like “Jars” and “Self Destructor.” It’s an obvious and worthy choice for a lead single.
But holy hell, y’all, these last two songs are f*****g show-stoppers. “AI Phobias” is wacky and insanely fun. It stitches together industrial, Nine Inch Nails-style verses, darkwave-style vocal production, nasty, Opeth-style metal breakdowns, and an uber-theatrical bridge section reminiscent of Avenged Sevenfold, twin guitars and all. But they saved the best for last: “Shocked at the end of the world” is career-best stuff. A spiritual sequel to “So Long, Mother Earth,” it’s a cavalcade of thunderous riffage and gnarly energy. It’s a song that demands you throw in headphones and let the band take you on an insane, angsty, dynamic journey through the apocalypse. The guitar riffage is bananas, Pete’s vocals are pristine, and I have no clue how Sam’s drum kit managed to survive the absolute bashing that it takes in this song. I’m at 4-5 runs through this album, and every time I listen I’m blown away by how confident and ballsy of an album closer this is.
Bright as Blasphemy, as a whole, lacks the cohesion and inspiration of Chevelle’s stronger albums, and finds Pete leaning into some of his weaknesses as a vocalist. But it’s Chevelle, y’all: the floor is still pretty dang high. And, like its companion piece NIRATIAS, it has some absolute gems that stand tall in the band’s impressive catalogue. If you like Chevelle, you'll find plenty to like here - if you aren't a Chevelle fan already, it's probably best you stick with the album highlights and skip the rest.
Recommended Tracks:
Shocked at the end of the world
AI Phobias
Pale Horse
Rabbit Hole - Cowards, Pt. 1
