Chevelle – NIRATIAS – 7.5 out of 10
Released: March 5, 2021
This is my review and initial thoughts, after hearing the album once through on March 5, 2021.
I’ve always appreciated Chevelle for being a raw band. They never seem to add too much extra instrumentation aside from guitars, bass, and drums. But with this album, you can hear the experimentation, with the extra sounds and ambience, yet they still seem to make it sound raw and not overproduced, as a lot of bands seem to do when they get into an experimental phase; especially in their segment of the genre.
One (good) surprise to me on this album, is the intro track being an instrumental, “Verrukt.” Chevelle has always been great at opening albums with killer tracks, from “Family System” on Wonder What’s Next to “The Clincher” on This Type Of Thinking… to the more recent “Door To Door Cannibals” off The North Corridor. “Verrukt” is not a very special instrumental on it’s own, but it is a great setup for track #2 “So Long, Mother Earth” and a great setup for the feel and story of the whole album.
My personal favorite off the album is track #3 “Mars Simula.” A great song with signature Chevelle riffs, a hooking chorus, and a bridge and solo with an outer space feel.
Out of the 13 tracks, 3 are instrumentals, with 2 working as interludes. I am usually not a fan of when interludes get their own track spots, but in this case, it did not bother me as much, since they don’t linger or go on forever. I find that, at times, when bands do this, the interludes seem to drag on a little too much and kind of slow the album down or kill the momentum a bit. Not the case here. Adding, even without them, we still get a solid 11 tracks.
3 singles were released, being “Self Destructor”, “Peach”, and “Remember When”.
“Self Destructor” is a solid single.
“Peach” is my favorite of the 3, because of it’s catchy, easy to learn chorus. This will definitely be a classic Chevelle single and setlist staple.
“Remember When” has a sort “Shameful Metaphors” feel when it kicks it, with some sci-fi guitar sounds.
All solid singles.
NIRATIAS is a solid, space/sci-fi themed alternative rock album, with great artwork to match.
-Mario
Let me know what you thought of the album!
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