CD Review: Chimaira - Resurrection

It was way back in 2001 when I first heard Chimaira, they were on tour pairing with Ill Nino for opening duties on a tour co-headlined by Machine Head and Fear Factory. Needless to say it was one hell of a night for metal! Ill Nino was the first band onstage, and they impressed, then Chimaira made their appearance. They were mere days away from the release of their debut album, Pass Out of Existence. They were a band on a mission, intent on making sure you remembered their name. The performance was good, very good, it was intense and you couldn't take your eyes away from them. Unfortunately, I cannot claim to be as enamored with their debut as I was with the performance. Sure, it has a couple of good tracks, mainly "Dead Inside" and "Sp Lit," but I never really listened to it much. That was the last that I had paid attention until now. Resurrection is an eye opener. The band has grown so much over the past 6 years, in a good way.

Resurrection is an album that delivers on many different levels. It is a blend of brutality and precision, aggression and power, all of the elements that make a great metal album. It doesn't quite reach the level of potential classic, but man if it doesn't come close. I cannot compare it to their middle albums, but it is a definite improvement over their debut release. It is the sound of a band that has gone through the wringer, come out the other side and rebuilt the sound from the ground up.

The album starts with the title track, a raging metalcore track with a ferocious rhythm, insane double bass, and it just digs into your brain and refuses to let go. The opener starts the momentum in the right direction and "Pleasure in Pain" and "Worthless" keep it going in the right direction. Then we get something that I was not prepared for, a pleasant surprise, a track of epic metal experimentation. Clocking near the ten minute mark, the song has a lot of ground to cover, and it is different from anything I have heard from them before. The song is called "Six" and it is long, sprawling, with moments of brutality and intense clarity, it is an impressive composition that has an ebb and flow all its own, and is worth the price of admission alone.

Resurrection continues to rage through tracks such as "No Reason to Live" and "Black Heart" before coming to its conclusion with "Empire." A raging thrasher with moments that border on a more black metal style. Fine way to conclude this impressive collection.

Their sound has elements of metalcore, hardcore, and death resulting in a sound that doesn't quite sound like any of them. They are led by the growl of vocalist Mark Hunter, who sounds the best I have ever heard him. Behind him are the twin guitars of Rob Arnold and Matt Devries who combine to create some of the heaviest riffs of recent memory. What really ties everything together are the drums by Andy Herrick, the band's original drummer returning to throne after a couple of years. His work here is impressive, great timing, nice double bass, overall a hardcore driving force that keeps the album surging forward.

Bottomline. Supremely satisfying, more impressive than I would have had any right to expect, Chimaira has knocked this one out of the park, delivering an album that can appeal to the hardcore and the metal crowds, while standing on their own alongside the genre labels. This one ranks a definite owner.

Highly Recommended.