Chariot, The - The Fiance

[OKComputer1016]

The Chariot - The Fiance
Record Label: Tooth & Nail
Release Date: April 3, 2007

Here is how to decide if you are going to like this album or not: put on the first track and listen for 6 seconds. Made up your mind? Swear to God, this is the most ferocious opening to an album since The Great Southern Trendkill, and when my MP3 player shuffled off of Andrew Bird and into this I was pretty sure I was going to die.

This is what I heard: “Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! We both know we’re both gonna die!” Cue drums that sound like machine guns and riffs that could knock the Richter Scale off track.

On The Fiance, a well plotted and solid noise opus, Josh Scogin shows off better than ever his distorted and commanding Coalesce-style vocals, covering but never extinguishing the ampli-fire beneath him. This time, the guitar’s got its chops and sliding mathrock riffs, instead of just pure anarchy like Everything Is Alive... where the listener had pretty much no idea what was going on.

You can credit the Chariot’s evolved sound to the fact that Josh is constantly moving on to new musicians, or you can credit it to the mantra “Practice makes perfect”, which is the side I lean towards. Either way, his split from Norma Jean turned out to be a felix culpa. Here’s what he was meant to do.

Songs like “...And Shot Each Other” (a live staple) are what make the album so memorable – a balance of tranquility and chaos, uncanny and quite unsettling. Also of note, that track's throat-shredding 8-second growl (complete with a deep breath in the middle) is the very definition of rock ‘n roll excess, in the good way. The track’s so good, we can forgive the fact that “The Deaf Policeman” pretty much directly rips off Nirvana’s “Tourettes”.

My only real qualm comes later in the album when Paramore’s Hayley Williams makes a cameo in “Then Came to Kill.” Besides the fact that it sounds completely ridiculous, what was the logic in contracting her for the song? It seems like a last minute act of backpedaling; like Tooth & Nail were scared the album might not be too marketable as it was, and it needed a popular spokesperson to represent it.

But for the most part, The Fiance is just the over-the-top under-produced masterpiece Scogin has been shooting for since Norma Jean’s Bless the Martyr, Kiss the Child. The most appropriate descriptive word to sum ‘em up would be the same one I use to describe Converge - "evil". But I'm guessing Chariot doesn't exactly want that tag... so we will settle for "brutal."

NOTE: Remember when Christian Metal used to mean P.O.D.?

[B]Recommended If You Like:
Coalesce, Norma Jean, The Chariot’s Everything is Alive…

Judge For Yourself:
www.myspace.com/thechariot (http://www.myspace.com/thechariot)

[awakeohsleeper]

Good review. This was an interesting CD and I definitely think 'And Shot Each Other' was one of the best tracks for a while. I saw The Chariot over here in the UK last Friday and they were excellent. Their live show is just insane. I am intrigued by the new CD - Wars and Rumours of Wars - it should be good because Josh pushes the boat out and never does anything conventional.

[handlikesecret]

great album, great review. i still prefer Everything Is Alive, but this album is great as well.

looking forward to Wars and Rumors of Wars.

[Facemelter42]

Im so looking forward to the new album. Josh writes some of the most powerful lyrics that i know. and the music is pure chaotic brilliance. great review

[batmannj]

Awesome review, this album still gets regular spins and is more controlled than Everything Is Alive....

[Handraa]

Great band, great review.
Nice Job.

[cereal4life]

Haha that intro cracked me up. I've had a similar experience with the ol' shuffle.

[Jamos4184]

Unsung EP was a good look at what was to come from The Chariot next ("Play the Piano..." was an early version of "Then Came to Kill" without the vocals from Hayley). They still had that chaotic sound on this album that was on their first, but as someone mentioned, it's much more controlled. May 5th cannot come soon enough........

[Nick Le]

I absolutely love The Fiancee. Hayley was on the album cause the two bands are good friends. I agree about how Back to Back is a great intro. I love ...And Shot Each Other. Josh's vocals are amazing. I really cannot wait until May 5.

[superBMRuth]

or Hayley could be on the album because the bands are close friends. The Chariot even opened up for Paramore at a home show a few years back as i remember.

[hardpill]

I remember, when Christian metal meant Embodyment

[Daniel Thompson]

the chariot is awesome. and so is this album

[xsinkshipsx]

I remember, when Christian metal meant Embodyment
yea bro or zao or society's finest.....oh late 90's early 2000's solid state.....how I miss you


BUT I am extremely excited for this album as well....my scogin list is like

bless the martyr>the fiancee>throwing myself>unsung>everything is alive>5....

[dan sings]

actually, when this album came out, haley/paramore hadn't yet blown up. they were pretty much unknown in mainstream, and only so-so known in subculture music. it was like two full months later that surprisingly, their song "misery someting" hit mtv and radio--i know, i remember. so you can't really say that toothandnail was looking for someone popular to sell the record.

[Alex DiVincenzo]

Solid review. Good album.

[sevinw0rds]

Agree with the reviewer, such a great record. I love playing the opening in the car to scare the shit out of non-suspecting passengers. Awesome...

[_><_]

Awsome album.

[Simulcast]

Nice review, but I disagree with just about everything you said. This album is completely forgettable, which is unfortunate because Scogin has the best voice in the genre as far as I can tell.

[StartAngry&Mad]

So I got drop-kicked in the head 3 seconds into their set last year when they were on tour with Poison the Well, after regaining consciousness I experienced the most relentless, pummeling live show; totally worth the blackout, and made DGD look like chumps for spending half their time on stage retuning and complaining about monitor volumes

as for The Fiancee, it's 30 minutes of blissful chaos, and they mix things up just enough to keep it sounding fresh from start to finish

[Dunn.Nope]

I'm pretty sure hayley is their bud as well as a fan of their music. Don't let that be the part of the album you don't like though, you can barely tell it's her :/

[xBértox]

Yeah you can barely tell its her, plus that a good song too.

[YouSmellExcited]

not really metal..but it's still bad ass

[James to Feel]

I support this review, if for nothing else than your Great Southern Trend Kill reference.. Nice. I thought this album was good but the production was a bit off and the songs were generally tracked too slow.. The demo versions sounded better to me for that reason.

[Broclee]

Love this album, especially the contributions from the Sacred Harp Singers. I do have to ask why they weren't mentioned in the review, though.

[Nick Le]

actually, when this album came out, haley/paramore hadn't yet blown up. they were pretty much unknown in mainstream, and only so-so known in subculture music. it was like two full months later that surprisingly, their song "misery someting" hit mtv and radio--i know, i remember. so you can't really say that toothandnail was looking for someone popular to sell the record.
This is true.

[DandonTRJ]

Wow, this is just uncanny: my friend and I were on my couch yesterday listening to this album for the first time in about a year, basically... vocalizing this entire review verbatim. Including the part about the 8-second scream. It's insane. Seriously, if anyone doubts Scogin's vocal ability, try to match that scream. I guarantee you'll start coughing up your lungs less than halfway into it.

[Brett3]

Great review. Amazing album, and I can't wait for May 5th.

[Cheesus]

Awesome review, finally!! I loved the 8 second growl... I also equally loved the choir-like vocals on the end of that track.. If anyone knows who they are or what they are singing, that would be awesome.

edit: nvm, Wikipedia ftw

[Cheesus]

Oh, and don't forget to mention Matt Goldman or anything! :p

[WhoSaidThat?]

I'm sort of this amped for this one. Good review Eric.

[Analog Rebellion]

Great review.

The way the tracklisting reads as a poem is awesome.

[Analog Rebellion]

Geez. I just listened to more of this and his scream is so fucking brutal on this record. It sounds like he's being tortured.

The guitar work is pretty bland and predictable for this genre. The vocals and the overall energy level are great, though.

[xJesusFreakx]

I disagree about Hayley's role in "Then Came to Kill." Her great vocals contrast well with Josh's, bringing the signature chaos to that calm interlude. Even more so, hearing her say "I don't know, it's just something I've always done..." in the opening seconds fits perfectly with the lyrics and is part of what makes that song my favorite song of theirs.

Everything else I agree with, though, and great overall review. Who remembers POD being Christian metal? *raises hand*

[MattDennis]

yea bro or zao or society's finest.....oh late 90's early 2000's solid state.....how I miss you


BUT I am extremely excited for this album as well....my scogin list is like

bless the martyr>the fiancee>throwing myself>unsung>everything is alive>5....

Everything is Alive so low!
You'll have to explain that to me.

[kittypants]

This came out two years ago....little late on the review but well deserved nonetheless!

[mikehranica]

love this record.

[IWasHerHorse]

Geez. I just listened to more of this and his scream is so fucking brutal on this record. It sounds like he's being tortured.

The guitar work is pretty bland and predictable for this genre. The vocals and the overall energy level are great, though.
I disagree about the guitar work, I think there are some very cool punk and noise moments on this album and a lot of it is because of the guitarists, but Josh's vocal are definitely the highlight.

Also, I don't like Paramore, but I think her vocal spot was one of the few times I've really liked her voice."Then Came To Kill," is similar to, "And Then, Came Then," where there's this stark contrast to their heaviness with this loud swell of beauty, and I think her voice really helped bring that out.

That being said, I'm extremely excited to hear what they've done with the new album, and to see them live again.

[CH!MP]

Geez. I just listened to more of this and his scream is so fucking brutal on this record. It sounds like he's being tortured.

The guitar work is pretty bland and predictable for this genre. The vocals and the overall energy level are great, though. i've tried listening to this band but the musicianship sounds horribly generic to me. i agree, the vocals bring the energy.

[AntiCult]

I like what Josh is doing with the Chariot a lot more than what he was doing with Norma Jean. Bless the Marty really wasn't amazing but it did have some of his best tracks on there. Hopefully Josh keeps up the emotion and energy on Chariot's next album.

[Gumbyjag]

their best record yet. Josh never ceases to amaze me.

[sullivancares]

Pretty sweet and intense album! Ha I LOLd at your POD reference. Hilarious.

[BBanet]

I disagree. I stopped looking for the bands with the "hardcore" tag tied to them, but The Chariot are a different story. I think the lyrics deserve at least a nine. Aside from that, a pretty nice review. Maybe a little higher for creativity, as they do have Aaron Weiss playing harmonic amidst the intensity of what is know as The Fiancee'. Great album. One of my favorites.