Review Summary: Chevelle is what Chevelle does.
There are certain bands throughout history that coast through their entire career delivering the same sound, only with subtle differences to compliment the era they’re in. Breaking Benjamin is a prime example of a band that takes unwavering pride in the fact they’re delivering the same tried and tested formula album after album. Even after the
Shallow Bay: The Best of Breaking Benjamin debacle that saw a brand-new line-up with three guitarists, the band’s sound remained staunchly undeterred after the transition. And you know, for some people that’s half the appeal – in life, the unknown is omnipresent, but Chevelle will always be Chevelle. There’s comfort in knowing that you’ll be getting the latest Chevelle album without having to worry about them trying to force the latest trends onto you and potentially dismantling what appeals to you as a fan. While I prefer an artist that tries to experiment with different styles and things that have inspired them in between album cycles, I do have some admiration for a band that obstinately stays the course in the face of an ever-changing world.
So, we know
Bright as Blasphemy is going to be Chevelle doing their thing, but what are the nuances here? Well, if we compare it to their 2021 album,
NIRATIVAS,
Bright as Blasphemy is a faster paced record that puts more emphasis on atmosphere, and the emotional gravity that comes from focusing on tension and various tonal shifts. The album does a good job of building up pressure by using their trademark organ-sounding guitar tones and groovy drumwork, and then releasing it with a cathartic transitioning part. Case in point: “Pale Horse”’s poignant and grandiose choruses, the emotive “Hallucinations” with its moving melodies and hook-laden guitar passages, and “Shocked at the End of the World”’s effective use of abrasive sounds, distortion and swinging tempos that shift from break-neck to capacious. There’s nothing on
Bright as Blasphemy that’s earth-shattering, but it is all well-refined stuff that, for me, makes it one of the strongest releases in their catalogue.
That being said, while I’ve continued to follow their work since
Hats Off to the Bull, I’ve always felt a certain amount of frustration listening to their albums. Chevelle have spent their entire career walking around the fringes of this idiosyncratic, moody, riff-based sound – lending elements from bands like Deftones and Tool – but never quite seizing their full potential, in spite of the fact they’ve come unbelievably close to getting those great ideas to a monumentally realised place. “The Red”, “The Clincher” and “Door to Door Cannibals” are prime examples of a band tapping into something that’s beyond what we largely hear from Chevelle, but these pepper granules never seem to take precedence in the writing room. Instead, we get solid albums with a couple excellent moments, and
Bright as Blasphemy is, unsurprisingly, no exception to the Chevelle rule. Of course, this wasn’t made for a casual observer like myself who sees so much more in this band, this is for Chevelle fans that
get what they’re are all about, and for those people, they will be pleasantly satisfied with another consistent meat and potatoes Chevelle record.
