Chimaira (Special Edition)

Album Review

Metalcore is full of bands that have mastered the art of being savagely ferocious. Actually, savage ferocity is a primary ingredient if a band is going to provide true metalcore. It goes with the territory. But one thing that fewer metalcore bands have mastered is the art of being truly hooky. Hatebreed and Throwdown (two of metalcore's best bands) have mastered it; they have mastered the art of hookiness and infectiousness as effectively as they have mastered the art of dense, skull-crushing brutality. And that healthy combination of savagery and hookiness is also alive and well on this self-titled effort, which is Chimaira's third album and comes seven years after the band's formation. The Cleveland-based outfit takes no prisoners on Chimaira; they kick, punch, pummel, and delight in taking listeners to the land of 1,000 bruises. But again, having a take-no-prisoners outlook doesn't separate them from the glut of metalcore combos that surfaced in the late '90s and early- to mid-2000s — what makes "Comatose," "Bloodlust," and other tracks a cut above most of 2005's metalcore recordings is how well Chimaira unite their slash-and-burn aesthetic with a desire to provide material that is just plain catchy. Chimaira's hooks — like Hatebreed's and Throwdown's hooks — have a way of staying with you, and their songs are simply better constructed than many of their competitors' songs. It should be noted that The Impossibility of Reason is Chimaira's first album since the departure of drummer Andy Herrick; this time, the drummer is Kevin Talley of Dying Fetus fame (or infamy), and he proves to be a welcome addition to the band on this sledgehammer of a CD. [This Japanese release includes one bonus track.]