Chimaira - Resurrection
Rating
RIYL
Fear FactorySpineshank
God Forbid
Diecast
Release Date
03/06/2007
Label
Ferret MusicTracklist
01. Resurrection02. Pleasure in Pain
03. Worthless
04. Six
05. No Reason to Live
06. Killing the Beast
07. The Flame
08. End it All
09. Black Heart
10. Needle
11. Empire
12. Kingdom of Heartache
13. Paralyzed
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Chimaira has always been respected as musicians, but they've never exactly been known for their ability to create the best records. They've always been kind of a singles band -- not that radio ever touched them, really -- who, because of their brutality, have never been able to hold listeners for a full record. There's only so many times you can hear the same barking growl, double-bass fill, and crushing guitar riff before you just get low on angst. So, thanks to those faults, they've yet to create an absolutely stunning record. Pass Out of Existence was close, and that's ironic considering the fact that the band themselves hate the record. While they claim it was overproduced and there was too much emphasis on the electronic elements of the record, it best suited their style and was the breath of fresh air that Roadrunner Records was looking for when they signed them in the first place. After that, the band severely downplayed the keys and turned up the heavy, with mixed results. The Impossibility of Reason had its moments, but overall was lacking; 2005's self-titled release was even worse -- it was the blandest the band had ever been, with nearly every song beating the listener over the head with the same heavy riff over and over, and nobody really bought it.
Luckily, the band caught wind of this and decided to change some things for their next release, appropriately titled Resurrection. They changed record labels and moved on over to Ferret Records, found themselves more comfortable with their new drummer (formerly of Dying Fetus fame), and decided to write some tunes that people would want to actually listen to. Not to say that this is the album that fans have been waiting for all along, or even that it's a consistent album, but because it has at least a little bit more good moments than the last record and has better production than the one before that. Sure, the band is still difficult to sit and listen to for an entire album, but at least this time, the songs don't all sound the same -- there are slow moments in between the beatdowns (a la "Killing the Beast", which would make for a good video game contribution), and there are some excellent beatdown songs ("Resurrection"). Fear Factory would be proud of "The Flame", which is one of the more technical songs the band has recorded in recent years, and God Forbid fans might enjoy the speedy "End it All".
With Resurrection, Chimaira has laid down a sturdy set of songs that are more likely than not going to win them back some of the fans they lost over the last half-decade, but hopefully will bring them some new fans as well. However, the band is still treading water and has yet to up the ante, causing them to fail at creating an overall astonishingly good record. As it stands, Resurrection is just a worthy addition to their catalog, but not a necessary one.
--Timothy Golden
Comments
Minneapolis, MN
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Minnesota
Yeah, I knew he came back too, but didn't know if it was before or after this was recorded.
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Waterloo, Ontario
But maybe I shouldn't throw the baby out with the bath water.
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I thought they were pretty damn good live when I saw them about two years ago or so.
~Tom
The Silent Ballet: The very best in instrumental and post-rock reviews and coverage.
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wow, if allmusic.com had pulled their head out of their ass (#1) i would have known that information, dick. and also, if i actually got any of the cds that i reviewed for this site, maybe i could have read the booklet and known that (#2). don't talk to me like an asshole or prepare to get ripped like one.
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