Reviews list for Chevelle - Niratias (2021)

My investment in the Gateway clan bands (as in purchased albums or regular listens) is limited to Deftones, Body Count and Alice in Chains. Soundgarden slipped off my radar a while back and the although the usual cursory flick through the clan playlist each month does unearth at least one or two items of interest it is rare that I follow them through to any full album listens.

The monthly feature of Chevelle’s sophomore compelled me to give it a listen this past week and although very much guilty of wearing its heart on its sleeve in terms of influences there was sufficient levels of interest generated to see me exploring further afield in their discography. Thinking that time would perhaps ensure that the more tedious moments of their sophomore were lost in the intervening nineteen years, I went for their 2021 release as my next venture.

This gamble paid off as it turns out. I have already come to terms with the fact that the band have a particularly familiar, if not predictable, sound. Fluctuating between Tool and Deftones both vocally and musically is no bad thing on Niratias as although I am much more familiar with the latter of those two bands, they have sufficiently trimmed the elements of Tool that I do not enjoy to simply capture the rigidity of structure required as a basis for them to explore some elements of prog as opposed to go full on mental with it.

The album title is short for “Nothing Is Real and This Is a Simulation” and the theme for the majority of songs (and of course driven by Vallejo’s awesome artwork) is the dystopian sci-fi future of foreign climes now meaning off-planet vacations or complete relocations to other corners of the known galaxy. On this journey the band cover territory that most certainly has its roots in hard rock and alternative metal, the latter element fuses with the more progressive strains better than the former along the way. Tracks such as So Long, Mother Earth, Mars Simula and Piistol Star (Gravity Heals) shine as standout moments of alternative metal that embrace enough proggy parts to keep things interesting without becoming boring.

Niratias has its share of hits also, with the infectious Self Destructor and Peach stomping anthemic rhythms on the brain, whilst ballad Endlessly never strays into the whiny aspects that plagued their sophomore for me. Alongside these core tracks there is also a fair selection of interludes and instrumentals (opening track Verruckt is a brave statement of almost sludgey proportions), which although I would not miss in all honesty are not distracting in terms detracting from my entertainment of the album.

At the same time, I cannot pretend this is a perfect listening experience for me and at thirteen tracks it is a shade too long. Test Test…Enough and Lost in Digital Woods could both have been left on the cutting room floor for me as they are forgettable almost immediately as they finish. Still, the four stars I award this album are hard-earned.