Chimaira: Wrapped In Violence – new video

The new CHIMAIRA video (“A boiling rage/The burning flame/A cloudy haze/A middle finger – will forever define us … Fuck what you think no, fuck everything … And now your back's against the wall”) was directed by Alex Morgan. ‘Wrapped In Violence’ is just one gem off CHIMAIRA's seventh album, ‘Crown Of Phantoms’, which was released in July 2013 through eOne to land at position number 52 on The Billboard Top 200, selling approximately 7,400 copies in the USA in its first week, and to conquer iTunes Metal Chart immediately upon its release. CHIMAIRA ‘Crown Of Phantoms’ edition features the band's only founding member vocalist Mark Hunter, drummer Austin D'Amond (“he’s just a really crazy drummer; he’s constantly changing the beat up and the patterns and you never know what you’re going to get from him”), keyboardist Sean Zatorsky (“[he brings] in a little bit more of the analog synth, it’s something that is a newer to the sound and also contributing with vocals and with me together, we sound - I think - pretty demonic”), lead guitarist Emil Werstler and rhythm guitarist Matt Szlachta (“both are insanely talented; Emil comes from a more of a gypsy jazz style and Matt is a kind of on the classical realm and the '80s metal realm and together they create a really technical, yet easy to grasp sound”) and bassist Jeremy Creamer (“he’s one of those virtuoso musicians that can hear the tiniest minute detail that nobody else in the room can hear if it’s just slightly sharp or flat” -  vocalist Mark Hunter explained to Loudwire – more here). As Gregory Heaney, AllMusic puts it:

“If there’s a feeling that courses throughout the record, it’s one of reinvigoration, with CHIMAIRA bouncing back from a rough couple of years with a rock-solid album of stomping metal. Though the band is named for the chimera of myth, they seem more like the hydra, always returning angrier no matter how many heads get cut off.” [More here]

Get your own copy of ‘Crown Of Phantoms’ here (CHIMAIRA's store), through Amazon or iTunes.

“To live in Cleveland, Ohio, more of a sunken hole than a driven notch in the Midwest rustbelt, is to not only encounter, but embrace the crippling winters, the broken jawed economy, and the expectations of defeat. All of which culminate in the very specific attitude of not only being an asshole, but being an asshole and an underdog. None of this is lost on CHIMAIRA.”

Formed in 1998 in Cleveland, Ohio by guitarist Jason Hager and vocalist Mark Hunter, CHIMAIRA recorded their debut LP with producer Andrew Murdock and released ‘Pass Out Of Existence’ in 2001 on Roadrunner Records:

Next came ‘The Impossibility Of Reason’ LP, recorded with guitarist Matt DeVries (current FEAR FACTORY guitarist) which debuted at number 117 on the Billboard Top 200 chart, selling to date over 200,000 copies in the U.S. alone. CHIMAIRA's third, self-titled, album was to be the last issued through Roadrunner Records; ‘Chimaira’ climbed up to number 74 on the Billboard Top 200. Hunter, lead guitarist Rob Arnold, rhythm guitarist Matt DeVries, bassist Jim LaMarca, drummer Andols Herrick and keyboardist Chris Spicuzza next recording, 2007's ‘Resurrection’ debuted at number 42 on the U.S. charts, selling 16,000 copies in its first week: “ ‘Resurrection’ does not suffer from false advertising as far as the album title goes - it truly sounds like the CHIMAIRA chaps are reinvigorated and reborn,” commented Greg Prato, AllMusic (more here): 

CHIMAIRA's fifth studio album surpassed its predecessor, charts-wise; issued in 2009 through Ferret Music/Nuclear Blast Records, ‘The Infection’ reached position number 30 on the Billboard Top 200. The band recorded their eOne Music debut after losing longtime bassist Jim LaMarca in late 2010, and after longtime drummer Andols Herrick, and electronic knob twister Chris Spicuzza had fallen away from the band in April 2011:

“This left CHIMAIRA's flagship member and singer Mark Hunter and guitarists Rob Arnold and Matt Devries [rhythm guitar] with an album to record with no rhythm section or an effects specialist. The splintered CHIMAIRA could have stared at the sun dissecting separate fires then converging into a singular sphere of blinding defeat. Most bands would have. But most bands aren’t from Cleveland. And only one band is CHIMAIRA. Instead, Hunter, Arnold, and Devries pushed themselves into frequent collaborator [the group's longtime producer] Ben Schigel's Spider Studios with bloodied teeth and balled fists, hell bent on birthing what anyone else would have aborted.”

‘The Age Of Hell’ was released in 2011 to debut at number 54 on the Billboard Top 200, selling over 7,000 in the U.S. in its first week of sales:

“What’s remarkable is how little an effect the stated departures had on the sound of the album. It’s a very smooth and seamless transition from 2009's ‘The Infection’ - so much so that it’s not immediately obvious that anything has changed,” [observed Dave Donnelly, AllMusic – more here:]

CHIMAIRA features: Mark Hunter – vocals, Emil Werstler – guitar, Matt Szlachta – guitar, Jeremy Creamer – bass, Austin D'amond – drums and Sean Z – keyboards and vocals