Chimaira

that’s bad ass….can’t wait for the new album!!!!!

that’s bad ass….can’t wait for the new album!!!!!!

Hmmm, well you guys aren’t playing in my state this time around, but I’d love the signed CD lol But that’ll be friggin’ SWEET for the winners of the tickets and meet n greets Killer stuff, guys. 4/21 can’t come soon enough!!

hate to say it really but from what i’ve heard already your new album is going to dissapoint me badly. i’ve heard three songs so far and all they are putting me to sleep. i don’t get same exact emotion from your new music that i’ve been getting from your classics all these years, it’s just so diffirent, i don’t recognize it, i just don’t get it anymore. i’ve been listening to your self-titled album this morning and i must say you guys were been on fire while recording it. so \in your face\, so \take no prisoners\ album. best effort, masterful effort. you know it’s like when you listen to great, epic album it just screams, man, you don’t need to play it twice to get the right emotion, it screams, it kicks you, it turns you upside down and in the end you say wow, that was the shit and you say it with all your heart because you know you listened to mastepiece. it’s all about emotion you put in music. i really miss those chimaira years. i really hope that not all of the songs on the new album are dead like those three and there’s some really kick ass stuff. once rob arnold said \if you are into old school stuff: slayer, metallica, pantera… etc. then you’re gonna like chimaira\. slayer, metallica, pantera are metal so i expect metal from chimaira too and not smelling the roses while drinking congac, you’re not that old and bored. c’mon, give us metal cause it’s never enough of it. thank you for everything!

i don’t think you can judge it by only listening to 2 or 3 tracks, just wait until the total package is out! … i think it’s really cool to see this band making such progress from the first album till now, there are way too much bands using the same trick they use every album. chimaira brings something new. I’m just gonna wait for the full album!

and when are you guys going to give some information for the Europe tour, are there gonna be some club shows or just festivals? keep us posted!

NothiNG ReMaIns ThE saME, three songs? What is the third song? Secrets of the dead, destroy and dominate, and?

I saw you guys last night…..fucking brutal show!

the crowd in Kansas City was fucking insane and so were you guys! thank you for such an awesome experience!

Malodorous, sorry, i wasn’t quite correct. two songs, right. the third was, well, first i thought it was a song but it turned out to be just some clips of Infection ripped from youtube to audio file.

Im going to miss you guys in OKC this year! to bad I’m stuck in this sadistic place of Tyranny called Iraq.. Maybe next time, but until then…

NothiNG ReMaIns ThE saME, you state that you loved self-titled, but I’m wondering what you thought of Resurrection? (also since you talk about “those Chimaira years” as if it’s been a while now) Cuz I might understand your hesitation about The Infection if you loved Resurrection as well, but if you didn’t even enjoy Resurrection, I just can’t really side with your POV, cuz (while I love self-titled as much as anyone else) when I think Resurrection, I think masterpiece as well (minus a few parts of personal taste difference in “Killing the Beast” and “End it All”). So if you thought Resurrection was shit or boring as well, I dunno what to tell ya, pal.

Well, I never said bad things about Resurrection. Talking bout the entire album I just don’t find it breathtaking. There’s some obvious fillers on it but some songs are great. I love some tracks from it, i oftenly listen to them, that’s it. Previous albums were more complex imo. Well, talking bout those Chimaira years I mean Impossibility of reason/Chimaira period, my fav era.

I’m so disappointed. Not one show out west? The closest show is in Arizona, and that’s 15 hours away. Hope you guys come out to Reno or Northern California soon.

the album will be brutal as always just stfu already lol

NRTS, you don’t think Resurrection was complex? You don’t think the almost endless yet never tiresome layers of “Six” were complex, and so EXACTLY pieced together? And you don’t think any of this new stuff we’ve heard so far is complex? Have you listened to the drumming alone in “Destroy and Dominate” and other teaser samples? Can you honestly tell me everything that is going on there is simplicity-in-action. But more to the point, who ever declared that complexity = good, or that good = must be complex? Do you call songs like “Walk” or “Power Trip” complex? What ever happened to JUST PLAIN GOOD, because of the feeling it evokes inside you? It has to be all mega-intricate to be good or something?

Now if you just don’t get that feeling from listening to this new stuff, that’s nothing anyone can knock you for. I mean, no one’s personal taste is entirely identical to anyone else’s. But I’d really recommend further listens. I don’t believe there are only two types of albums – those that IMMEDIATELY hit you and are good, and then those that would require further listens, and are therefore not so good… In fact, I admit that pretty much EVERY Chimaira albums has taken a number of listens for me, to adjust to its unique vibe, and really get my bearings about what’s going on. But once I DID, it all became my absolute FAVORITE! What’s more, I don’t WANT an album that I could listen to once and have heard everything there is to hear. That’s what I consider boring, and dull. I want layers, great things that take you multiple listens. And once you’ve heard it all, all of the layers just make it all the better to listen to as a whole. For example, I didn’t even notice the crazy little double-bass diddles that Andols does in “Destroy and Dominate” for the first couple listens, but once I heard ‘em, holy SHIT it just made the song all the better. So I guess my point is just, don’t assume it sucks and is a disappointment after just a couple listens. Now, after time to really let it soak in and to pick out all the pieces of the puzzle, if it STILL doesn’t do it for you, that’s all good. Like I said, no one’s taste is exactly the same. But don’t give up on the whole album just yet. Still, what, 8+ more complete songs to take in? Not to mention that Mark has said you really gotta hear the full thing, from start to finish, for it to all totally meld and make sense, etc. Let’s just see what happens on and after April 21st.

Please note, I’m not trying to lecture you or anything. The only reason I’m spending all this time to talk to you about this stuff is that I’m trying to help out a fellow Chimaira fan, that’s all. I hope I can have a positive impact, but if not, so be it.

PS: Perhaps what you feel lacking is a good guitar solo or some blast beats here n there, for which I admit I also have a longing. BUT, both of which I believe have been guaranteed by the band, and will surely be ever-present on the album in its entirety.

I was talking about the album and not just one song “Six”. “Six” is a masterpiece and complex song, no doubt, one of my fav thing from the album actually. I just didn’t find Ressurection breathtaking. Maybe there are too many fillers on it. Great songs are changed by fillers so the album loses it’s complexity. I love epic, complex albums, i can’t help it and i don’t want to. i hate fillers. i can understand fillers on some one palm muted chord band”s album but when it comes to talented people, creative people… I believe that when you listen to great album you don’t need to play it 1000 times to like it. No need to play Master of puppets or Reign in blood (just for example) even 2 times to understand the greatness of music. Those albums scream loud and even if you are deaf and dead they will touch you, they will kick you! don’t get me wrong, i’m talking about the type of the album i’d like to listen to, generally speaking of course, and not the actual albums. and yes, i consider first emotion you get from anything the best. just my taste. whatever. forget it. thanx for the talk.

Well it just goes to show difference in opinion. I don’t consider any song on Resurrection to be simply “filler” (with the slight exception of “Killing the Beast”, but even that has a stand-out element or two). Sure, they’re not perhaps just like the overly-focused, skyscraper-structured, determined-to-be-5+-minute songs of self-titled, but I think their refinement is equally impressive, because within each song it seems that EXACTLY what is right for the song at that point is there, like the songs wouldn’t be right any other way. And they ALL stand out with their individual voice (to me), from the classic opener vibe of “Resurrection” and the quick, rockin’ “Pleasure in Pain”, to the the violently heavy pummeling of “Worthless” and “The Flame”, the minute intricacies of “No Reason to Live” and (no need to mention) “Six”, which ABSOLUTELY take more than one listen (even “SIX” did not hit me right off the bat, but once it DID… holy fuck, it is now my TOP FAVORITE SONG…). And “Needle” and “Empire”, terrifically dark and powerful. I just dont feel hardly any sense of filler there. But I respect your opinion, and I tried to give a different POV. But meh, oh well. Can’t please everyone all the time. “Led Zeppelin didn’t write tunes everybody liked. They left that to the Bee Gees.”

I feel left out in this little chat…

personally I think that thier better albums were “The Impossibility Of Reason and “Resurrection” they have more power and seem to get people to like Chimaira (if that person has never heard them before) where as giving them a taste of “Pass Out Of Existence” or the self-titled album, those albums take a few listens to actually like. I do like the self-titled album but some songs on it I can do without, and as far as Pass Out Of Existence…all these years later, the more I listen to it, the more I like it. and I haven’t heard “Destroy And Dominate” because I didn’t see the Twitter post until an hour after the link was gone. But listening to “Secrets Of The Dead” and the other clips I know “The Infection” will be a bad ass album. I have been a hardcore fan of Chimaira since the beginning…got all pissed off when Andols left (which is prolly why I don’t like the self-titled) and I have faith in them. Mark is right, they have all grown musically, and as a musician and a writer, I have grown with them using a lot of their material as inspiration for my own works. So I am anxiously waiting for April 21st to get here as well as April 5th when I get to see them play here in New Orleans.

what’s wrong with killing the beast? i loved it…

Well, I can only speak for myself of course, but it just seemed a bit ostinato, a bit repetitive (til the bridge, which I love, with Mark’s melodic part and such) but then goes repetitive again with the outro/”blasting speaker” build-up effect. Just a little… not so much BORING, but perhaps “uninteresting” for its majority. But I understand it’s position in the album as a whole, a sort of interlude or break from the craziness, and variety is always appreciated by this listener But as a standalone song, I just usually skip it. It’s not a BAD song, I’m just usually more anxious to hear others of the band. JMHO.

got all pissed off when Andols left

first i was too, because i loved Andols work on Impossibilty of reason so much, he’s really been on fire while writing drums for it. he’s got his sig style which is quite recognizable and it fits chimaira great. i thought diffirent drummer would ruin all that but i must admit that Talley did a great job, his drumming on the self-titled is annihilating, crushing i donno it’s strong, it’s epic. But then again Andols fits Chimira best, without him Chimaira may sound even more kick ass but diffirent. it reminds of Lars Ulrich, sometimes when i listen to old Metallica records i think to myself wtf. drumming like this just sucks so hard, but then again changing Ulrich to Lombardo or Bostauph or i donno Igor Cavalera maybe, would make Metallica sound completely diffirent, much more kick ass of course, but diffirent.

Lets put this simply.

NRTS: Obviously you haven’t given the material a shot because instead of BLASTING the emotion as fast and aggressive as possible, chimaira slowed it down and portrayed the image subtly and more planned. Shut your mouth, ignore your hang ups, and LISTEN. You aren’t trying to grasp their approach and its retarded of you.

IN GENERAL: complex never equals good. This fact is why the new God Forbid SUCKS ASS and Opeth has always been just right. Complexity can create depth, but too much depth kills the melody and buries the song. Complex=Good is the kind of thought that creates Psyopus fans. We don’t need more psyopus fans.

Music Theory. Study it.

Beelzebub412, no i did and that’s exactly what i didn’t like in new Chimaira’s stuff – slowing down the tempo and subtling the image. Because Chimaira i like is aggressive, no friendly shit, take no prisoners kinda band. Planning metal? lol, tell that to Joker No thanks, no planned overproduced metal, I prefer in your face stuff, influental, epic stuff. I like complex music and your words will change nothing. I like what i like, i like what works for me best and these new songs are no fun for me. No fun = no interest. I know it’s no big loss for the band, just some of my bucks for cd and concert ticket haha. Call me wishy washy fan if you like but i don’t give a crap. Only God can judge me and only his opinion is important. Btw I never said I’m hardcore fan cause i’m not. I don’t like Pass out of existance at all. I started to like Chimaira from Impossibility to Chimaira, liked some stuff on Resurrection but this new stuff is even more diffirent. It’s no fun for me anymore so i feel dissapointed. Music must be fun or if for some reason it’s not, there’s always fried chicken – Willie Adler. And if you noticed i’ve been speaking just for myself all the time, for my taste, not bashing anyone, i said my word withiout preaching or lecturing. I just said that from what i’ve heard so far i probably won’t like the new album. That’s it. Obviously you didn’t even read my posts properly. Reading. Shut your mouth and try, study it.

Redhaze, you ignorant fuck, do me a favour – just get fuckin lost!

yoooo..guys lets calm down…he was just saying his opinion..take it easy bros

NothiNG ReMaIns ThE saME, I was talking to everyone not just you buddy god damn calm down

Anyone know the song title for the code included in the destroy and dominate mp3? It is awesome.

I believe it’s entitled “Float My Bacon Over a Swiss-Cheese Moon”

so many letters o_O What have i done for being so punished? you’ll write the 6th album until i read all these phrases xD

We do have different taste when it comes to music. personally the albums that i like from chimaira are Impossibility of a reason and the self tittled album, there are good songs in resurrection like empire, six, etc.

@NRTS, what do you mean by complexity? We may have different meanings for complexity. Complexity in arrangements?Guitar riffs?

IMO, chimaira’s guitar riffs are not complex but simply it just fits the song well, rob and matt’s guitar tones are brutal which complements hunters vocals pretty well.

As for the new album yeah i agree with you it’s a little different than the previous ones.
Just cant wait to have that.

Just as Rob reitterates, “I don’t JUST shred.” So much quality rests in that statement, because DIFFICULT and CRAZY does NOT automatically = good. Just look at some lame shit like Dragonforce. There are a million artists out there just showing off (or THINKING they are, anyway), but there is no REAL QUALITY to it. What’s more, some of the most memorable and impactful riffs and such are some of the simplist (e.g. “Walk”). Good = good, independent of complication.

I agree with you kyle.

Grazie

I know I’m getting in this late but here’s my .02.

STOP comparing the albums. It’s an effort in futility. Each album is from a particular phase or mindset the band was going through, leave it at that. The more you start comparing albums the more differences you will find because the band is going to evolve and change over time. If a particular album doesn’t strike you at first, give it a couple of listens. If it still doesn’t work for you then move on, listen to something else.
NothiNG ReMaIns ThE saME, all you have is an opinion of the band and their music. What your perspective of the band is and what they stand for or strive for with their music is an interpretation. If you do not enjoy the new material, then you can just listen to the previous material that you found enjoyable.

well from the two songs iv heard their okay, listened and listened to them numerous times but they dnt give me that spinetimgling awsomeness any of the other albums did, not even the same ressurection gave me and i personally didnt really like the album as a whole. some bits were immense and other bit where just somthing i couldnt be bothered with. still anticipating their album tho and wether i like it or not il still go and see them live cause wether the album will sound good on cd or not as apposed to them playing the songs live are to very different things. needle on the album didnt do it for me, but live ooohhh yes

ebay sniper…

I came across your site while searching google for just this topic! Your views are interesting and well thought out….