Album Review: The Chariot - Long Live

Band: The Chariot
Album: Long Live
Label: Good Fight Music
Release Date: 11/22/2010
Reviewer: BMer

Tracklist:

1. “Evan Perks”
2. “The Audience”
3. “Calvin Makenzie”
4. “The City”
5. “Andy Sundwall”
6. “The Earth”
7. “David De La Hoz”
8. “The Heavens”
9. “Robert Rios”
10. “The King”

Well, i think we all know what to expect here. The Chariot have released their fourth full-length album, their first with their new label Good Fight Music, and it’s titled Long Live. The Chariot and their brand of rock/metal is somewhat difficult to review considering there aren’t many bands producing similar art. The band boasts a loyal following who will no doubt love this album, and for those listeners who are new to The Chariot, well, as the bumper sticker says “get in, sit down, shut up and hold on!”

The rumors leading up to this release were that The Chariot would be recording the album live to analog, as opposed to digitally via Pro Tools. You can hear this on most of the record, however i cannot confirm whether the whole album is indeed recorded live at this time. Regardless of how the album was recorded, Long Livesounds like a live performance caught on tape, there is space and air in the music, you can hear a lot of the nuances of the instruments. And while The Chariot rarely do the same thing twice, this is the first album where it really feels like they are achieving what they set out to do. As usual, nothing is predictable, you listen to songs over and over again and each time you discover something new. Songs like “The City” with it’s clean melodic choir vocals or Listener’s poetic verse in the middle of “David De La Hoz” are just a few examples of the surprises you find on Long Live.

Lyrically Josh is really on his game here. Most of his songs are probably open to interpretation but a few tracks have some outright messages, like on “Andy Sundwall” where Josh lays it out “I am NOT saying we’ve got it all figured out but why accept silver when you’ve given gold?” “The City” is a call to arms where Josh’s delivery is so passionate and gripping “If I leave this earth tonight may it be said that I spoke my peace, I spoke with the wrath of His grace. Calm rose. Come violent wind. Oh we stand hand in hand and we walk without fear. THIS IS A REVOLUTION!“ There are many instances of Josh changing his delivery and adding either some southern twang (“The Audience”) or his almost winded delivery provides so much emotion that it’s palpable like on “David de la Hoz” where he runs-on “Its the impossible act of building up bridges much faster then they burn. Stay, because I can’t afford the differences shadowing my heart and what good is a sinner if we haven’t got grace?”

What can you say about The Chariot that hasn’t already been said? Enjoying the chaotic heavy music The Chariot produce is like learning to love coffee, at first it is bitter and abrasive, but after awhile you learn to love without needing sweetener.Long Live is everything that fans want, it’s heavy and powerful, you could describe the same way you describe everything about the band; controlled chaos, slow-burn, an orchestrated car-wreck, relentless, jarring, brutal… Frontman Josh Scogin usually describes their work as “art”, and with art he says we should never compromise. It’s important to understand that The Chariot is just that, art, it’s not built on preaching a message, or displaying musical talents, or some other reason for producing music that you might find with other bands in heavy music. Sure the message on Long Liveis important, yes all of the members of The Chariot are impressive with their musical talents, but everything about The Chariot seems to be about breaking through limits, looking at how things are supposed to be done and then doing them a different way.

OVERALL Long Live is the best album The Chariot have put together so far. Some songs stand out as favorites, like “The City” and “David de la Hoz” and other songs provide support in their own chaotic ways. Lets be honest here, most fans would say that if you don’t like it, it’s because you don’t understand it. This is experimental hardcore that is currently standing alone on top of the mountain made with predictable, water-downed hardcore bands. Long Live is the closest thing to The Chariot’s live show you can get without actually leaving your house, and their live show is best thing going today.

written for IndieVisionMusic.com