Over the last few years, Chimaira have been through tons of upheaval. The band are no strangers to line-up changes throughout their existence, but this time around only singer Mark Hunter remained. The current lineup consists of (former) Daath, Dirge Within and Bleed The Sky members. Let’s see whether Chimaira 2.0 is able to keep the flame alive.
The previous Chimaira record didn’t do much for me; it sounded rather bland and didn’t have any of the venom and inventiveness that made The Impossibility Of Reason, their self-titled album and Resurrection such memorable endeavours. Crown Of Phantoms, the band’s latest effort, is a return to form, but with a very different twist to it. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, with such a revised line-up. It took me some time to adjust my mindset and to appreciate the band’s new musical spin, but suddenly it clicked and I can safely say that Crown Of Phantoms is the band’s strongest work since Resurrection.
In character Crown Of Phantoms reminds me of the infamous self titled album, in the sense that it doesn’t contain any outright hit songs and it really takes time before the record starts to grow on you. However, when you get to this point you start to realise that ‘Machine’, ‘No Mercy’, ‘Plastic Wonderland’ and ‘Kings Of The Shadow World’ are well-rounded and quite layered and they share the same kind of arcane charm as ‘The Venom Inside’, ‘Lazarus’, ‘Inside The Horror’ and ‘Bloodlust’.
Emil Werstler (guitars) and Sean Zatorsky (keyboards/synths) are the tastemakers, adding lots of colour to the song material in the guitar and synth/keys departments, respectively. Mark Hunter is his aggressive self with his venomous screams and cutthroat lyrics, and the rest of the band are as solid in their performance as it gets. Austin D’Amond may not be as flashy as Andols Herrick or Kevin Talley, but he’s certainly a great drummer in his own right.
Crown Of Phantoms may take some getting used to, but it’s a very strong and convincing release. Whether the fans will embrace the record depends on their willingness to let go of the past and giving this revamped Chimaira a second chance. As for me, the new album offers ample evidence that Mark Hunter and Co. are back for more, and that their future is bright once again.
8.5/10
Raymond Westland