Chiodos - Devil
Formed in 2001 in Michigan, Chiodos have reunited with vocalist and founding member Craig Owens and drummer Derrick Frost. Described as post-hardcore - on the new album Devil keyboards and strings widen out the musical landscape, as all sorts of quirky musical influences are weaved into the mix.
Why the Munsters Matter with its weird and wonderful title, has a bit of a power metal vibe going on, with impassioned and falsetto vocals, and a massive guitar led melody at the centre of the maelstrom. The chorus full of angst, declares chillingly:
'Tell me, do I offend you? Cause I don't want to fit into your world. Into your heart.
I hope I scare you and I...'.
3 AM has a very catchy almost pop feel, but still with a metal sensibility. The middle section with strings and a really beautiful soft vocal is quite intoxicating....and so to Sunny Days & Hand Grenades, which has a very unusual music hall sound, with frenetic piano and at one point bizarre spoken vocals. Still accompanied though with some hard driving guitar.
Clearly there is then an adventurous musical muse at work here, that may not have mass appeal, but makes for an interesting and rewarding album. Craig Owens vocals provide the unifying element, ranging from death scream to falsetto!
The final track is the lengthy nine minutes plus epic I am Everything That's Normal, which is very theatrical and with a daring final third coda made up of electronic sounds with piano and voices flying in and out of the mix...a touch of Zappa influence perhaps?
Post-hardcore can raise an expectation of something formulaic, but this is definitely not the case with this adventurous and enjoyable album.