Customer Reviews

The Infection (Limited Edition)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is my third Chimaira CD. My first one was resurrection and my second one was impossibility of reason. I was very impressed with resurrection but I thought impossibility of reason was a fairly weak sophomore effort.


Now for infection; I have to say, this is the first CD I bought in 2009 that I wasn't disappointed by. The first thing i noticed is that all the songs were alot slower and alot heavier from the other two CD's i listened to. After one play through I wasnt sure what to think, it caught me off guard. Upon subsequent playthroughs i started to really like the CD, its a refreshing new direction and style compared to previous CD's and its definitely heavy as can be.

Now all I have to do is listen to "pass out of existence" and "chimaira" which i look forward to with great anticipation and hope.

Was a little skeptical when they put up Secrets of theDead on their myspace. Liked it, but wasn't crazy about it. Was stuniily suprised to hear how bada$$ the rest of it is. It crushes in every aspect. Yeah like people said in prior reviews, less solos... So what! Rob Arnold has to prove nothing. He's 1 of the best up and coming guitarists out there, and his performance in "the heart of it all" alone makes up for the lack of solos. Less solo's but they made effective use of C. spicuza on synths and programs. He, with the guitarists gives the album the dark, errie feel. Ilove this album. As a whole it might be the best batch of songs they released as a whole. like others have mentioned, maybe slower easier songs but sometimes simpler is better... This cd grooves like a mother and slams like a 10 ton hammer so put on your knee braces before u listen or u may go cripple... Best songs- dissapearing sun/ try and survive/ the heart of it all

Chimaira are certainly not a band to rest on their laurels. I got into Chimaira back when Nu Metal was still popular, back with `Pass Out of Existence,' which may be seen as almost embarrassing by modern standards, but Chimaira have since become one of the greatest metal bands of all time, and have proven time and again their artistic prowess while never sacrificing their core metal qualities.
After The band became the darlings of the metal community with `The Impossibility of Reason,' Chimaira have set out on a path to create the perfect metal album, with their very progressive and dense self titled album they proved they could be artistic as well as brutal and with `Ressurection,' the band mixed super slow numbers with break neck speeds to create a varied and interesting listening experience.
With `The Infection,' it almost seems like Chimaira are fearlessly taking the parts of their debut album that did work (Think `Severed,' and parts of `Sphere,' or `Painting the White to Grey,') mixing them with the slower moments from `Resurrection,' (Think `Killing the Beast,' and `The Flame,') and making the whole mix both fun and relevant to modern metal.
The whole album forges along at a mid tempo pace, sounding for the most part like the breakdowns from your average NWOAHM song turned into an entire song. The emphasis, for the entire album is firmly on `Groove.'
This is by no means a bad thing, as The Infection is one of the most intricate, fun and heavy releases modern metal has to offer. Chimaira fearlessly seek groove after groove without once resorting to killer speeds just for the sake of balance, a refreshing attitude by any band.
Mark Hunter; one of the greatest vocalists in Metal has the admirable quality of growing with each passing release and `The Infection,' is no exception, Mark displays a wider array of voices and styles than on any other Chimaira record from soulful singing, to straight up Death Metal vocals by way of his trademark screams.
The band's underrated additional sound man Chris Spicuzza is at his most noticeable since the band's controversial debut album, laying down keyboards, therimin and other electronics in a way which is both tasteful and exciting, revealing hidden depth in the music and adding an additional layer of complexity to the already virtuosic music.
All this praise to levy and the three string players still remain uncredited, the dependable Jim and Matt perform as well as everyone expects and guitar legend Rob adopts a more subtle approach on these songs, making the whole affair seem like a more concrete band collective, rather than Rob's solo project.
Standout tracks include the varied opener `The Venom Inside,' the catchy `On Broken Glass,' and the epic instrumental closer `The Heart Of It All.'
Chimaira's newest album is far from a rehash of their previous work, but rounds out their career in such a way as too make every one of their previous albums seem to form a complete set.
`The Infection,' takes direction from all of the bands previous works; be it the high in mix electronics from the debut, the guitar tones from Impossibility, the artistic outlook from the self titled and the slow heavy menace of `Resurrection,' and combines them to form the band's most vital and interesting album to date.
The music is as heavy as its ever been, the production is top notch, the songs are memorable and well written and the lyrics fit well with the rest of the band's repetoir, `The Infection,' is arguably the band's finest album to date.
This limited edition contains the Bonus track `Warpath,' which is more than up to the same standard as the rest of the album, and fits well altogether. It also contains a brilliant `Making Of DVD,' made by the same people who made the last 2 Chimaira DVDs. If you've seen one of those you'll know what to expect; if not rest assured you're money is well spent, Chimaria always release stylish and informative documentaries which display large amounts of artistic performance, band interviews and flow at a suprisingly well designed pace.
If you are a fan of Chimaira, do not hesitate, order this as soon as you can. If not, after about the third tack you'll already be back on amazon ordering the rest of their catalouge. It really is that good.

Initially, I was pretty skeptical about this album. Chimaira wasbeginning to grow old on me, and once I realized they were touring with Disturbed and a couple other bands I'm really not too fond of, my hopes sank further.

Boy was I proved wrong. This album is their best. Why? It's their heaviest and most consistent. Each song is pure metal.

Great job fellas.

THIS CD IS AWESOME. I BOUGHT IT THE FIRST DAY IT CAME OUT AND I'VE LISTENED TO IT ABOUT 5 TIMES. IT'S A LOT DIFFERENT THAN CHIMAIRA'S OTHER STUFF, NOT QUITE AS HARD BUT IT'S JUST AS GOOD. THE DVD MAKES IT EVEN BETTER. IT'S COOL TO SEE THEM IN THE STUDIO AND TALKING ABOUT THE SONGS AND WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THEM NOW. THE ONLY BAD THING IS THERE'S NOT REALLY ANY SOLOS ON THIS ALBUM BUT IT'S STILL GREAT. I SUGGEST EVERYONE GO OUT AND BUY THE LIMITED EDITION , CHIMAIRA ROCKS.

when i heard chimaira was making a new cd, i was stoked! i've been a huge chimaira fan since i found their old demos on napster back in the day and seeing them on [...]. but when i got ahold of this album, i was left disappointed. i was expecting face melting riffs and mark's suffocating screams...instead i got some slow boring cd that was more of a groove metal than a death metal cd. i felt that mark's vocals were sub par at best. My overall impression of this cd was that the band lost their niche and were trying too hard to be somethin they aren't. this has to be one of chimaira's WORST albums to date (next to self-titled). A very forgettable album, and a huge dissapointment. some will like this cd and give it full of praise, but those who expect nothing but the best when it comes to insane brutality from chimaira will be left dissapointed. better luck next time guys.

The first time I listened through this album, I didn't care for it, because I noticed they started using a true, death growly voice. However, upon further listens, I found that they actually didn't use this voice very often. Most of the album was coherent vocals, fast-paced, and VERY heavy. I'd have to say this is the heaviest album I ever listened to. Very nice.

people are giving more facts on this album than opinions. the most common one being different in the manner that it isn't so fast paced and less and less solos. facts ALWAYS give little room for possibilities and opinions.

yeah its different, thats whats soooo frickin great and metal about it!!!!yeah less solos, and im kinda glad. few bands can get away with doin solos almost all the time (Chimaira definitely being one of them) but solos these days are gettin worn torn and kinda boring and mainly repetitive. dont get me wrong, i love chimairas guitar solos, but theyve also been frickin awesome at breakdowns.

this album is metal. bottom line. you dont have to be fast all the time to be metal. ive been listening to chimaira since 2000, and really havent been disappointed in them since. they're a different metal band, and every album proves it, and this one is another solid creation, all the so-called loyal chimaira fans who bashed this album have proven that they are not loyal chimaira fans after all.

I've been a fan of Chimaira since 2000 and they've always been a solid go-to source of pure sweet headbanging delight. They were never perfect but they always improved and refined their sound with each successive release. Resurrection was a masterpiece of modern American epic heavy metal, at least in terms of songwriting craftsmanship and execution. Chimaira has always been tight without sounding over-produced and breathless, and I really appreciated that.

But now it seems like the boys from Ohio are kicking up their feet so to speak. And I don't just say that because the tempo is slower. I'm a huge doom metal fan so I dig crushing lumbering riffs, and The Infection has plenty of piledrivers, but there is a lack of energy that I'm beginning to see in several bands in this genre that started gaining popularity around the turn of the millennium with the wane of nu metal. The Infection will crush you paper-thin no doubt, but there are few moments that grab you and leave you slack-jawed. Maybe they cranked out this new album too quickly (only two years since Resurrection), I don't know. It's certainly a fun listen but doesn't stick in my head like previous Chimaira efforts. One important note is the vocals- I've always considered Mark Hunter's vocal approach to be slightly shallow compared to the music but now he's really added a thickness to his delivery that beefs up the sound considerably and it works great. I just wish that the overall sound would have been beefed up as well. The Infection is an enjoyable "meh..."

Here's the thing. growing up in Detroit, I've been listening to Chimaria's material from as far back as 2000/2001. Since then, they've always had a fast, blistering sound that was very, very much influenced by the current metal trends at the time. This album is absolutely no different and while it will be well-received by Chimaria's fans, to say that it's bringing anything remotely new to the genre is absurd.

These guys groove it out as hard as any other band out there and having Andols Herrick back in the band only makes them that much better. But there's too many times I'm listening to this album thinking "... is this Machine Head?" to the point where I can enjoy it without criticism. I honestly think the biggest problem of this band is to simply stop caring about who else is doing what in the music community and just write a good honest album for themselves.

Chimaria fans, go get this album because it's a prototypical Chimaria. I also think fans of groove metal will like the album, so I recommend it for them too. For people who are fans of other genres of metal, however, I don't think you'll find enough to like to keep this in your collection.