CHIMAIRA — Chimaira (review)

CHIMAIRA — Chimaira album cover Album · 2005 · Groove Metal Buy this album from MMA partners
4/5 ·
UMUR
"Chimaira" is the eponymously titled third full-length studio album by US, Ohio based metal act Chimaira. The album was released through Roadrunner Records in August 2005. It´s the successor to "The Impossibility Of Reason" from May 2003 and there´s been one lineup change since the predecessor as drummer Andols Herrick has left (tired of touring, he went back to college to finish his degree in music) and has been replaced by Kevin Talley (Dying Fetus, Dååth, Misery Index, Six Feet Under...etc.). Talley´s tenure with Chimaira would however only last until 2006 when Herrick returned.

The music on the album is energetic, heavy, and hard edged groove metal with elements of hardcore, death metal and thrash metal. The band are often cited for not appreciating the link to the term metalcore but there are moments on the album where the link is valid enough. It´s especially the aggressive and very raw "core" sounding vocals that lead my throught to the metalcore sound but the band also employ some crushingly heavy breakdowns in their music that also points in the metalcore direction (or heavy metal oriented hardcore...you decide). Although not quite as harcore oriented, the focus on heaviness and groove aren´t that different from a band like Hatebreed. Chimaira´s music on this album is groove laden, aggressive, and in addition to the above mentioned metalcore/hardcore elements you´ll also find plenty of thrashy riffing on the album (Slayer often comes to mind) and loads of blistering lead guitar work. A song like "Salvation" also displays that the band have a melodic sensibility with brief use of clean vocals. Chimaira never sacrifice power or energy though. There are some truly skull crushing riffs and rhytyms on display here.

The musicianship is high level on all posts. Tight precision playing all around and when you add to that a very well sounding and professional sound production, this is an album which deserves the high quality stamp. The songwriting can be a bit one-dimensional (using the same elements on most songs), but on the other hand Chimaira succesfully spice their music up with the above mentioned lead guitar parts and samples and keyboard effects, which help the compositions remain interesting. I could pick any track from the album, but I have to mention the opening duo of "Nothing Remains" and "Save Ourselves" as some of the most powerful, crushingly heavy, and quite intricate groove metal tracks I´ve yet encountered. A great album this one and a 4 star (80%) rating is fully deserved.
Share this review
more

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer
Please login to post a shout
No shouts posted yet. Be the first member to do so above!

Review Index

Member Zone

Username:
Password:
Stay signed in

Metal Subgenres

Artists Alpha-index

MMA TOP 5 Metal ALBUMS

Rating by members, ranked by custom algorithm
Albums with 30 ratings and more
Master of Puppets Thrash Metal
METALLICA
Buy this album from our partners
Paranoid Heavy Metal
BLACK SABBATH
Buy this album from our partners
Moving Pictures Hard Rock
RUSH
Buy this album from our partners
Powerslave NWoBHM
IRON MAIDEN
Buy this album from our partners
Rising Heavy Metal
RAINBOW
Buy this album from our partners

New Metal Artists

New Metal Releases

The Goblin Sessions Heavy Metal
THEM
Buy this album from MMA partners
Tormenta De Arena Metalcore
VORAGO
Buy this album from MMA partners
Infinite Metalcore
FUTURE GHOST
Buy this album from MMA partners
Heretic Melodic Death Metal
SUNCINDER
Buy this album from MMA partners
The Skull Burned Wearing Hell Like A Life Vest As The Night Wept Mathcore
FRONTIERER
Buy this album from MMA partners
More new releases

New Metal Online Videos

Future Ghost - Wolves (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Future Ghost - Nemesis Game (Official Music Video)
FUTURE GHOST
Bosh66· 1 day ago
Harrowed TwentyTenVideo
HARROWED
Bosh66· 3 days ago
Sunmancer - Realms of Dilemma (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
Sunmancer - Lower Cavalier (Official Visualizer)
SUNMANCER
Bosh66· 8 days ago
More videos

New MMA Metal Forum Topics

More in the forums

New Site interactions

More...

Latest Metal News

members-submitted

More in the forums

Social Media

Follow us
Follow us on Twitter Become a Facebook fan RSS Feed