Band:	The Chariot
Album:	Wars and Rumors of…

The Chariot are one of the few bands that blend balls out metal riffs with Christian values without coming off as precocious jerks. As with some other bands that have a message, The Chariot manage to keep everybody happy without bludgeoning you over the head with a message. Example? Rage Against the Machine; constant message but it doesn’t get in the way of the rock.

Josh Scogin, the creator and front man of The Chariot, is no stranger to loud, Christian-tinged music, having been the vocalist for Norma Jean, another Georgia based metal-core act. But Scogin’s leaving turned out to be the best thing for both bands. With The Chariot, Scogin’s musical direction has been one that has seen experimentation on traditional math/metal-core standards, including such things as choirs, guest vocalists, sparse song arrangement and a host of other genre-transcending things. With their last album, “The Fiancée”, The Chariot opened themselves up to a larger audience by simultaneously murdering fans’ ears and soothing them with the comforting, if somewhat didactic, tones of church choirs. Gone are the choirs, but the eardrum massacre remains.

“Wars and Rumors of Wars”, finds Scogin with a whole new band lineup, since everyone who performed on “The Fiancée” had left the band. Regardless of the new lineup, the musical direction is pretty close to the same. Discordant guitars, pounding drums, and the incessant vocal torture unleashed by Scogin on every single track. On songs like “Abandon:” Scogin is left almost completely alone, propping the whole thing up with his violent vocal style. Surprisingly, this works very well; Scogin’s voice is so unbelievably ravaged by anger and frustration that you can’t help but be totally immersed in the song.

If you’re looking for more then just balls out vocals, look no further then “Impress”. This 2 minute 13 second scorcher has one of the coolest sounds to any song I’ve heard in a long time. While there is only one riff, repeated over and over again, it’s timed in a very strange way. Church bells are interspersed throughout the riff, ultimately ending with a single guitar mimicking them; a very lonely end to a song that’s essentially a 2 minute breakdown.

Overall, “Wars” picks up where “The Fiancée” left off; lots of timing changes, lots of angular guitar and lots of screaming. Where The Chariot makes their music interesting is in the little things that they do; slightly raw production, just enough feedback on the guitars to make things sound scary, and a little bit of math.

The devil, as they say, is in the details.

The Chariot Official Site
The Chariot on MySpace
The Chariot - “Wars and Rumors of Wars” on Amazon

Release Date: May 5th, 2009

“Wars and Rumors of Wars” - Tracklist
(* recommended tracks)

1. Teach:
2. Evolve:
3. Need:
4. Impress.*
5. Never I
6. Giveth
7. Abandon.*
8. Daggers*
9. Oversea
10. Mrs. Montgomery Alabama iii.

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