CHIMAIRA — The Age of Hell (review)

Album · 2011 · Groove Metal

2/5 · 2011-09-04
Diogenes

Let it be known that I think the whole “New Wave of American Heavy Metal” thing is a bunch of garbage. Aside from it being a lame rip-off of the NWoBHM moniker, it reminds me about the problems plaguing American metal bands everywhere: repetitive, generic, and unwillingness to get out there and play something original. Chimaira’s latest, The Age of Hell, embodies this about as well as any other modern metal album from the States, being an unfortunate step back for a band that once held a boatload of promise.

If you have heard anything by Chimaira before (save for their first one), then you probably know what to expect on this album. That would be a combination of groove metal and metalcore, with your occasional delves into thrash metal. Here’s why this isn’t very appealing: they did basically the same thing on The Impossibility of Reason, and again on their self-titled, and again on Resurrection. The Infection was a hint at a “logical continuation” sort of thing, but on The Age of Hell it sounds like the band is going backwards, with lazier songwriting than before. There’s a riff in Born in Blood which might as well be the same as the one from Resurrection…and these riffs aren’t even that good! They’re just your same old chugging. I can think of maybe four riffs on the album that are good: one on Year of the Snake, one on Trigger Finger, and the other two on songs that I can’t remember because the rest was so bland.

So, Andols Herrick left the band again, and in comes Austin D’Amond to take over behind the drums. He does a very nice job as far as following the usual Chimaira drum patterns goes, which could either be a testament to his skills or how overhyped Herrick really is. But here’s another take: there’s also a new synth guy, Sean Zatorsky, and once again he fills in for the former without much of a thought. Not that electronics are (or should) be a big part of this type of music anyway, but the fact that Chimaira got two people to do what the previous members did shows just how little the band has progressed on this release.

Taking the musicians argument a bit further, there is no reason why The Age of Hell should sound so half-assed. Rob Arnold and Matt DeVries proved themselves as very competent guitarists a while ago, so why can’t they come up with riffs that sound good? Mark Hunter is the only one in the band that sounds interested in trying something new, incorporating more (better) clean vocals and layered effects to give The Age of Hell its only shred of freshness. A few years ago, this would be unthinkable, as Chimaira seemed to be a band on the rise being held back by a mediocre vocalist, but here it’s just the opposite.

Granted, The Age of Hell isn’t a total rehash of old ideas, because here there is even MORE groove than on previous releases! This means even more repetition and lack of variety. Most of the songs are all slow and uninteresting, which stinks considering that this band has put out some pretty killer thrashcore in the past. I’d love to blame the record label for rushing the band, because some of the songs definitely sound slapped together, but this wouldn’t hold much water since Chimaira has been on an every-other-year release schedule forever. The songwriting is not very good, plain and simple.

I want to like this album. I really do. Chimaira isn’t a band I hate by any means, but it seems that whenever they’re primed for a huge record that will separate them from the rest, they stagnate and put out something like this. The Age of Hell isn’t as heavy as the self-titled, isn’t as angry as The Impossibility of Reason, isn’t as technical as The Infection; it’s just there, standing for everything the New Wave of American Heavy Metal really means. Disappointing, to say the least.

more than 2 years ago
Permalink
Report #251139

Share this review

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer

Please login to post a shout

Diogenes wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Whoops, I just found that Ben Schigel recorded the drums for this. I'm too lazy to edit the review accordingly, so...

Diogenes wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I think they need to take a few years off. The whole scene got stale a while ago, and they're better musicians than this.

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I really enjoyed "The Impossibility of Reason" but it´s like the band just can´t top that one and the rest of their albums simply come of as pale copies. I guess it´s also the case with this one.