HOLY SH*T, THE CHARIOT, YOU ARE BLOWING MY MIND

Last night Axl and I (along with Good Fight Entertainment via the Internet drones at YouSendIt) shared the following email exchange upon both being sent The Chariot’s new Long Player Long Live:

Good Fight via YouSendIt: “This link is good for 1 download of The Chariot – Long Live. the link will be active for 48 hours. please download asap. thanks!”

Vince [to Axl]: “Holy shit. This RIPS.”

Axl: “I DLed it but still need to listen.”

Axl [20 minutes later]: “Wow. I think this dude must have been single handedly responsible for how awesome those old Norma Jean albums were. Either that, or he and the band had a SERIOUS divergence in artistic intent.

Obviously it’s a little of both; it’s clear now what Josh Scogin’s influence was in Norma Jean, as both bands’ post-2003 output has been a testament to that. I rather enjoyed what I heard of Norma Jean’s recent release Meridional, but Long Live is a completely different ballgame; these two bands are so different in 2010 that they barely even justify being discussed together anymore.

So let’s not mention the N[J] word for a minute and just focus on the C word. While The Chariot’s prior endeavors have all been really heavy and have all been really good, Long Live takes things to the next level.

It’s heavy as fuck, it’s chaotic yet controlled — about to fly off the rails at any moment only to suddenly come to a coordinated halt — and it’s bizarrely catchy in its pure post-hardcore meets grind mayhem. If not for the stigma of being associated with a Christian record label there’s no reason this band shouldn’t be considered as cool as The Dillinger Escape Plan or <insert cool kids scene band here>. Long Live is their first album for secular label Good Fight Entertainment, so we’ll see what the former masters of Ferret can do to shed this band’s Christian stigma and let the music be heard by unbiased ears.

Get a taste of new song “The Audience” at The Chariot’s MySpace. It’s just a taste, but boy is it delicious. Long Live comes out November 23rd and is available for pre-order here; the first 500 pre-orders (of any kind) receive a free signed, hand numbered silk screen poster (pictured above).

-VN