Chariot, The - Long Live (2010)^{Release ID: 1760}

I'm glad that I selected this album as our February 2023 feature release as it's ended up delivering what I'd hoped it would &, in doing so, has probably surpassed it's more familiar 2012 follow-up "One Wing" in terms of creative aggression too. If you simply can't get into the modern metalcore sound with young, skinny white dudes with long fringes, huge round ear rings & obscene neck tattoos swinging their limbs violently around in windmill fashion then I'd suggest that you might struggle a bit with "Long Live", particularly with vocalist Josh Scogin's continuous barrage of rude screaming. However, if you're partial to the odd rebellious breakdown & give "Long Live" enough time to reveal its charms then you may just discover the highly professional & super-intense band within. There's a great electricity & urgency about everything that The Chariot produce for us here & I never found myself reaching for generic metalcore terms, despite the fact that The Chariot are not attempting to reinvent the wheel here. The A side flashes by in an instant & without too much complaint or fanfare but it's the B side that contains all of the real gold in my opinion with the mathy "The Earth", the post-hardcore inspired "Robert Rios" & the crushingly epic album highlight "The King" taking the album to another level & carrying it up a half mark in my eventual rating. The production is spot on for this type of music as it captures every nuance while losing none of it's visceral edge. If you enjoy high quality, no-holds-barred metalcore then I'd suggest that you check out "Long Live".

I don't think I have listened to The Chariot before this album became this month's Revolution feature release. Once again I found another diamond in the rough totally worth adding to my collection. Thanks for this, Daniel!

The Chariot had already made 3 albums before this, each more popular than the last, and their 4th album Long Live is filled with relentless energy. Unlike a band like Motionless in White that often balances aggressive verses with sweet choruses, The Chariot is firmly set in pure metalcore throughout each song, making the genre more exciting for the heavier fans. Long Live proves that the band is standing high in the metalcore game.

Opening track "Evan Perks" already perfectly unleashes aggressive emotion through the screaming of Josh Scogin, "DISAPPOINTED?!?! I KNOW YOU ARE!!!" Lots of chaos in just a minute and a half! "The Audience" is a highlight with ever-changing vocals. Injecting more surprises into the skin, "Calvin Makenzie" makes unexpected metal dives from something brutal to something old-school. The old ditty can cause an impact, but it's quite odd and doesn't work entirely. Nonetheless, that's a solid song, and the album's perfection isn't affected one bit.

Something worth singing along to is "The City", when it builds into a choir in the melodic midsection. Singing is so rare in this album, with potential to reach a stadium. Next song "Andy Sundwall" heads back into the usual metalcore with not as much as brutal energy as other songs. Scogin's vocals in "The Earth" are in constant movement as the band do what they want before a dark breakdown. A video was made for the diverse highlight "David De La Hoz". The song features a weird bridge from a hillbilly preacher, and it ends with a soft harp outro.

Strangely there's a more art-rock vibe added to "The Heavens", but it still becomes a sludgy math-metalcore highlight, simple yet admirable. As we reach the end, the chaotic "Robert Rios" charges. With a lengthy drum bridge midway through, "The King" is a 6-minute long epic, a bit like a more experimental heavy Underoath, whose producer Matt Goldman help recorded this album in a live analog technique.

Long Live has clear production as much it has raw energy in this fresh masterpiece. If you need a lot of metalcore adrenaline, one of Georgia's finest bands of the genre can give it to you. Long live their music!

Favorites: "The Audience", "The City", "David De La Hoz", "The Heavens", "The King"