Customer Reviews

The Infection

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

 

 

I've been a fan of Chimaira since The Impossibility of Reason was released and I've loved everything they've done since then... But here, we have The Infection: over half the songs on this album have painfully slow tempos, and they've dropped their tuning again ("Pass Out of Existence" low).

There are many aspects of The Infection that are similar to their previous releases, such as the musical part; it's often very predictable, such as in "Secrets of the Dead" the last bar after the first chorus, before the second verse, they return with the tuplet theme that is matched by the drums on the snare... Very Chimaira. Rob's solos on The Infection are very reminiscent of the solos on Resurrection, as well (which is not necessarily a bad thing!)

The only other negative comment I have about this album is that there are several very awkward tempo changes in various songs, for example at a couple points in "The Venom Inside," the tempo changes are almost jolting to listen to; it's like someone is shaking you and turning you in the opposite direction unexpectedly.

Negative comments aside, I absolutely love Rob Arnold's style of guitar-playing. He creates the feel for the entire band, and it's certainly present on The Infection. Mark Hunter has taken some new approaches to his vocals, mixing the low-end vocals with his normal high's, and he even takes a whispering-singing approach on "Impending Doom," which is very, very eerie. Andols Herrick has further proven himself as the master of the double bass, which seems to be his main focus, although on this album he does dip his toes a little more into blast beats and several other techniques that have been used scarcely in Chimaira's past.

Overall, this album is good- not great. It takes some conditioning to get used to it, but songs like "Coming Alive" and "On Broken Glass" definitely save The Infection being tossed aside.

Let me first start out by saying I am a long time fan of Chimaira. Living in Buffalo NY, Cleveland OH is like our city's cousin & I've followed this band before they were even signed. They've always strived to make a full cohesive sound to their music through the use of electronics. Now this isnt to say that their " Industrial " in any way, the use of keyboards is means to add depth to their music & also seperate them from alot of standard thrash bands.

Now when Chimaira started out their sound was unique to their genere & some may argue that point, & here is my counter to that. When other bands catergorized under the NU-Metal genere were doing the standard SCREAM, SING, SCREAM, SING formula trying to cash in the Killswitch Engage, Limp Bizkit, Korn, & so many others formulas, Chimaira kept it heavy & fast! The difference between mediocre & great bands is the ability to adapt & grow. Chimaira has done this throughout their entire career. When others tried to mimic there style, Chimaira ran in another direction. And now days when record labels are snatching up every wanna be southern grooved scream band trying to now cash in on Lamb of Gods popularity, Chimaira have again gone in another direction. And it chased them right back to what made them GREAT to begin with! The Infection is everything Chimaira fans loved about this band to begin with (literally) & then some!

The Infection sees Chimaira going back to their roots with darker & more mature sound. The songs are not fast for the sake of being fast & are much more crafted then previous recordings. And on a BIG PLUS side Spicuzza (sorry if I botched the name) has a large role in this CD as he did on their Pass out of Exsistence album. All these things make for a truely bruising & dark album that only Chimaira could have pulled off so perfectly. GREAT ALBUM!

Chimaira has released their fifth studio effort with the Infection.This review is coming from a long time fan that has been with this band since "Pass Out of Existence". This album on it's own regard is a solid effort and has some pretty brutal and low-ended riffing and great drumming and any fan of Meshuggah or Fear Factory will really get into it. Thing is I don't like either of those bands and the bottom line is that the songs are too damn slow. They have focused more on the groove aspect of their music and pretty much cut out the break-neck thrash breaks that I once loved from the self-titled album.I like these songs their great but, I didn't want to hear Throwdown, The Acacia Strain or Hatebreed. I wanted a Chimaira album. A little dissappointed but, still a solid effort. Please guys bring back the thrash that I miss so much.

Simply excellent. Little more needs to be said. If you are a solid metal fan who cares about more than just show-offy BS, do not hesitate to pick this up. Takes more than one listen to "get", but not because it's sub-par, because there is so much depth to it, which is one of the best things about this horribly underrated band. An invaluable addition to their INCREDIBLE catalogue. Buy it. Dig it.

Ive been listening to Chimaira for a few years and heard almost all of their music. I think this album is a huge leap for the band. There is so much going on in this album it takes quite a while to take it all in. There are many different sounds and techniques that Chimaira haven't used before. I find an album that has a lot of variation very interesting versus one that is just the same thing over and over. This album has a wide range of song types and great vocal range by Hunter. I was disappointed by his vocal change a while back but he has really expanded on this album. This album is very heavy, and somewhat slow, but that's my favorite type of metal. Miles of double bass from Herrick and great guitar work from Rob and Jim, as well as electronics from Mike. Probably my favorite Chimaira album. They just never stop pushing and coming up with new ideas.

If you're looking for a solid metal album that you wont get tired of, here it is. It has influences from many different styles.

so first off id like to say chimaira has always been a brilliant metal band i loved the thrash aspect to their music when i first heard the infection thou i was a little dissapointed because to me it seems like a step backwords it sounds alot like pass out of exsistence i guess i was more suprised then anything because ressurection was totaly crsushing a true brutal mastepeice secrets of the dead is the track that stood out the most to me on the infection its not the best chimaira album in my oppinion but its worth checking out

Since I own every Chimaira album known to man and they are one of my favorite bands, I have to say this album scared me a little when I first heard it. The vocals are definitely some of the heaviest to date mixed with a slower methodically brutal sound, but somehow it works and it works well. The only problem is maybe it took me a few listens to warm up to the new sound and the lyrics aren't as angry or menacing as previous songs on previous albums. Chimaira is easily one of the heaviest metal bands around and hopefully it stays that way. Well done.

Every album by Chimaira is a masterpiece! The Infection is no exception. I just got a ton of new metal albums by many different artists, but this one I find myself listening to over and over again. My only complaint is that it's not long enough. I wish it would never end. I don't think I'd rate one Chimaira album better than another, I'd give them all 5 stars. But if I had to pick a favorite, this could quite possibly be the one!

Yeah, it's slower than the rest and his vocals are hash! That's what I love about it! Anyone who calls themselves a Chimaira fan and gives this album a bad review should be ashamed. Obviously, those people just haven't given it a chance yet. For me, I only had to hear it once before I was completely blown away by their latest work. WOW!

Chimaira is one of the few bands out there who make a totally different album everytime, while managing to maintain their own unique sound. They are always heavy, always pissed off, and come off as a bunch of punks you wouldn't want to cross paths with in a dark alley. Musically, they have made quite a progression from their last album, Ressurection, which is my personal favorite.

I saw the band twice in the last two years here in Denver, and their live performances are every bit as brutal as their studio work. If not for witnessing their sheer violence onstage, I likely would not have become as big of a fan as I am. When opening for Killswitch, as well as playing in support of Dethklok, they totally outperformed the headliners.

Back to the infection. I have listened to this CD several times over the last few days, and I've gotta say its as good as the rest of the Chimaira discography. The band is so good at using a plethora of different metal styles, and churning out original sonic awsomeness. I hear elements of death, melo-death, thrash, nu, and black metal within this groove oriented metal masterpiece. It has the progressive feel of their self titled CD, and also more of the electronica of their earlier stuff. Yet it still contains the brutal, punch you in the face, killer attitude of Impossibility of Reason and Ressurection. One major difference on this album is the pace is slowed down quite a bit from the previous album, but that is not a bad thing. While playing at a slower tempo, they somehow managed to make the music much heavier. I mean this album is F***ing heavy.

My favorite tracks so far are the Dissapearing Sun, Destroy and Dominate, Secrets of the Dead, and Frozen in Time. I can't say if this album will be my favorite of Chimaira's work yet, but I like it more every time I listen. I bet it will end up on my top ten list at the end of the year.

Overall, it's a pretty good album. The use of keyboards disappoints me. Get rid of the wimpy keyboards.