Released: Aug 28, 2012
Genre: Chaotic Hardcore, Metalcore, Experimental
Label: Good Fight, E1
Number Of Tracks: 10
Known for ignoring the rules and utter sonic chaos, The Chariot pushes the line even further with their new album "One Wing".
One Wing
Reviewed by:
millarso, on august 28, 2012 3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Sound: Ever since The Chariot burst onto the metalcore scene in 2003, they have been turning the genre on its head. Known for ignoring the rules and utter sonic chaos, The Chariot pushes the line even further with their new album "One Wing". Josh Scogin tears it up on vocals with guitarists Steven Harrison and Brandon Henderson, drummer David Kennedy, and sadly ex-bassist Jon "KC Wolf" Kindler. Let's look at the tracks before getting too far into the sound.
01. "Forget": Kicks in high gear with a speedy lo-fi lick, giving way to that familiar arrhythmic chaos, great dissonant riff punctuated with triangle (0:36), cutoff before heavy breakdown at 1:50.
02. "Not": Big start, Scogin's vox start with a robotic filter, dissonant lead filled riffs, not sure who but cool vox at 1:00, heavy beat at 1:25, heavy detuned riff at 2 with new vocal style.
03. "Your": Beautiful southern hymn with female singer, amazing harmonies with organ, gorgeous reprieve from the sonic beatdown.
04. "First": Another good arrhythmic riff, pretty straightforward until 1:19, song turns into a Western soundtrack (so cool), just listen to it, one of my favorites.
05. "Love.": Fast paced and heavy with some hardcore beats mixed in, a lot of signature changes, devolves into muddy guitar strokes and reversed spoken word at 2:10, comes in heavy at 2:36.
06. "Speak": Just Scogin and piano. Dark and brooding. Intensely moving.
07. "In": starts offbeat and punchy, switches to an awesome hardcoresort of groove at:26, pretty harmonied vocals come at 0:50, dissonant leads return at 1:00 accompanied by a dentist's drill (just listen).
08. "Tongues": Slower riff, dirty and crushingly heavy, piano at 2:00 with drums, band back in at 3:20.
09. "And": starts with a Hawaiian guitar sample, fat riff around 0:45, sounds like song is done at 1:37, followed by a sample that lovers of "Long Live" will recognize, and back into an intense beat, awesome outro section.
10. "Cheek.": Standard melodic guitar progressions with random drums, transitions to Charlie Chaplin's "Great Dictator" speech, intensely emotional, sends chills down my spine, band in at 4:28 with punch and static, the perfect closer.
So that's a lot of song explanation, but that is only because this album has such a perfect sense of sonic layering. It makes great use of samples. Like a horror movie, it knows when to shrink back to cause a dramatic thrill when it explodes in your ears. The playing and recording (Matt Goldman) are both as tight as can be. A solid 9. // 9
Lyrics and Singing: Vocally, this album is a monster. Josh Scogin is well known in certain circles for his pained vocals. They drip emotion like the blood he must be coughing up after each take. On top of that, beautiful guest singer interludes add great melodies where appropriate.
Aside from the awesome one-liners being displayed ("Love", "They lost their voice in the choir"), the lyrics (that I can make out) are rife with emotional commentary on love, faith, buying into other's ideals, etc. All fairly standard lyrical fodder, but executed in an awe-inspiring poetic fashion.
The vocals step in perfect time with the instrumentation even when the rhythms go out the window, and you can feel what he puts into it when he chokes and gasps for air after long lines (the end of "Cheek."). // 9
Impression: So far, I must sound like the biggest Chariot fanboy on the planet, but anyone who is into legitimate metalcore or math would do themselves a great disservice by passing on this album. They have dipped into territory that only bands like Converge and Botch dare go but have added enough experimentation to set their sound apart. I really can't pick a favorite song (maybe "First"?) because it fits together so tightly. The only thing I didn't like was that I wanted a little more airtime out of it, but that is barely a problem in the scheme of things. I truly believe that this will be one of my top metalcore albums of all time. That's why I'm going to give it one of the higher ratings I've ever handed out. I've rambled on so all that's left to say is "Long live The Chariot." Pick this up. // 10
One Wing
Reviewed by:
metallicaflavor, on august 29, 2012 2 of 2 people found this review helpful
Sound: The Chariot have been big players in hardcore since their inception. Josh Scogin crafted the perfect hardcore act and has been taking it around the world for almost ten years now. They've always been known for doing unconventional things in their music, only now they're doing it much more so on "One Wing", the band's much-anticipated fifth full-length release. The album starts off on a hardcore high with The Chariot trademark firestorm of insane guitar parts, hammering drums, and Scogin's wailing screams. "Forget" is a perfect album starter for the band, and nothing I wasn't expecting; in other words a great song. The album rolls on to "Not" featuring a guest vocalist (don't know who). "Your" features a woman singing lyrics from "They Faced Each Other" off of The Chariot's sophomore album, "The Fiancee". It brought back some good memories for me. That leads into "First" which is the first (notice the pun?) track on the album to feature something I wasn't totally expecting. It starts off slow, and then breaks to just a guitar playing a small lick. The band builds and layers onto this riff, creating a cool, old western film-style progression. "Love." is an awesome fast track full of more traditional Chariot musicianship. It gets nice and heavy halfway through. "Speak" is a nice eerie piano track with just Scogin's vocals over the piano. That leads into "In" which is another song full of The Chariot's fire and brimstone. "Tongues" surprises me yet again with a really slow riff that goes through a lot of the song. "And" features the oldies-style song that was in "Calvin Makenzie" off of "Long Live". The epic last track, "Cheek.", features a speech from Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator", which definitely makes the track a keeper for me. After the speech, the band charges back in and ends the album, leaving a nice big Chariot sized blister on our musical brains. // 9
Lyrics and Singing: Josh Scogin's vocal skills never disappoint, and his lyrics are always solid. Scogin's vocals only get better on this album. The scarring shout he has breaks through my ears and lets me know he is still one of the best scream vocalists out there today. A lot of the lyrics on this album deal with change, understanding, and opening up. The Chariot always executes their lyrics in very interesting and different ways. They never disappoint in this area. // 10
Impression: The Chariot have truly created and become what they were meant to be. They've only gotten better and better throughout their history, and "One Wing" is no exception. I personally believe it is easily their best work to date. They were able to take a sound they already created, and twist it even more to evolve into a truly original piece of art, unable to be reproduced by any artist. The Chariot have truly come into their own on this release. Even the unconventional, colorful album art speaks this. Long live The Chariot. // 10
One Wing
Reviewed by:
Bayon3twork, on september 19, 2012 1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Sound: "One Wing", The Chariot’s fifth studio album, balances the perfect amount of discourse and rhythm, proving to be the best Chariot release to date.
Lyrics and Singing: Josh Scogin simply put goes berserk with his vocals which shows just how much he puts his heart and soul into what he does. His passion for writing unique and use of intelligent lyrics is astounding. I find that he is the most underrated front man in metal. Just listening you can hear the effort behind every note he vocalizes, which makes you realize just how much passion Scogin has for what he does. Everyone doesn’t appreciate Scogin’s vocals but I find his singing alone inspires a respect for The Chariot’s music. // 8
Impression: After listening to "One Wing", I found how it amazing how The Chariot has improved the skill of track composition. They have a knack for composing tracks that control the energy of the user so easily. Like mentioned before, they do have the same song structure for most of their songs, but I never found myself thinking any one song sounded like another. The biggest problem I did have with "One Wing" is that it is too short, clocking in at nearly 31 minutes. This however, allowed for an energetic album. If you’ve ever seen The Chariot perform live then you know that energy is what they strive for. Overall, this album left me impressed. "One Wing" is definitely The Chariot’s best work in my books. // 9
I know plenty of people who don't dig them for some reason or another, but I'm surprised that you don't like them but do like Converge. I know they are still different, but I appreciate them for the same reasons.
These guys really know how to look like a bunch of brainless idiots onstage. Yeah I get the whole amped-up-energy thing but they sound like somebody throwing a wrench in a gearbox.
They're probably one of my favorite live shows. Do they look insane? Maybe. But hardly brainless idiots. They put a ridiculous amount of thought into their music, and at the end of the day, they are having a hell of a lot of fun. They put 100% of themselves into every live show that they play. Look up the house show that they played in Perth on Youtube. Best thing ever.
Loved this band so much ever since The Fiancee. I've only heard "Speak" off this album so far because my preorder hasn't come yet! There's no doubt in my mind that I'll love this album though.
I remember seeing them live back when I didn't like this type of music. I regret the fact that I didn't listen to stuff like this back then. But goddamn that was some sick stage presence.
This band IS rock n' roll incarnate- unadulterated power and emotion, set free from any fear or apprehension. The band is Christian, but there is no band more fundamentally Dionysian in approach than The Chariot.
I love how everyone that has reviewed this album so far has failed to notice that the lyrics for "Your" are from "They Faced Each Other" off of "The Fiancee"
Oh, I've definitely noticed. I only had so much room to remark on though. They like to make connections between their albums one way or another. The name Long Live came from a sound clip from a previous song.
This album is pretty beastly. I forgot about these guys for the past couple years, but it's nice to come back to chaotic metalcore every once in a while, and these guys are some of the best in the genre. It's cool to hear them experiment with some totally new sounds. One last note: I didn't think it was possible, but it sounds like Josh's voice has gotten better after a decades worth of intense screaming...impressive.
You say that like it would be a bad thing if that were true. Botch has influenced most bands in this genre in one way or another. But I really do think The Chariot have managed to carve out their own sound from that influence. I love both.
ince I started with my online business I earn $62 every 15 minutes. It sounds unbelievable but you wont forgive yourself if you don't check it out. Red97.c0m
Listen to "Speak" and "Cheek." and you'll understand what I mean.