Chimaira's latest self titled effort brings the heaviest and most musically mature album yet. It is expected for a band to grow with each album they release, but far too often bands get stuck in a rut. They find their "groove" and that is where they end up dying, this is due mostly to lack of instrument knowledge so said band couldn't grow outside their boundaries if they tried. This is where Chimaira looked to be heading with their debut album on Roadrunner Records, Pass Out of Existence (2001). Not a bad album by any means, but the band at the time didn't seem to have much direction or ability to move forward with what they were doing. Those thoughts were all laid to rest with the release of their sophomore album The Impossibility of Reason . There seemed to be a fresh breath of new life in the band, they grew more then anyone could expect. The album was perfect, powerful, and almost mind numbing. Which brings us to their latest release, their third and self titled album. In description the album draws many parallels to Pass Out of Existence, only this time much more powerful and well rounded. This band has proven that they are not going to fall in the typical modern metal "rut", and if every album keeps improving the way that we have seen so far then they have the power to stick around and be a very predominate name in metal for years to come.

4.5 / 5

Links:
Official Chimaira Website
Roadrunner Records

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