Review by Josh Felty
Rating: *****
In past music reviews, I've utterly dogged the whole "barking" vocal phenomenon. While I hold to my critical laurels, I have to admit that I absolutely love the vocal scream. There's a marked difference in what you hear; one is a more primal, truer sort of gutteral noise that seems to start from the cajones and work its way out. The other is just sloppy vocal styling that any hack with free recording software can pull off.
Chambers' latest, Old Love, is more of that primal noise. The kind I can appreciate with a wide smile on my face.
Sound-wise, I was reminded of Pantera meets something from the British underground--a nice smathering of punk and hair metal influences with that Anselmo rage packed in for good measure. The album's title song rings with a fist-walloping rhythm that any metal fan should appreciate. Likewise is true of "Ripper" and "Here's That Song I Wrote About You", an immensely throbbing anthem for a 100 MPH journey down the interstate. Guitars continue to buzz along in "Take My Juice" and "Fuck It Out", two songs that following with the "screw it, let's go faster" aesthetic are just plain fun to add to a sentence.
What's different with Chambers is you can hear the all-out, balls to the wall fun these guys are having pouring their hearts and souls into some heavy friggin' music. This is what hardcore metal should sound like! Teeth-loosening, eyeball-thumping insanity to the hundredth power. It helps when the vocalist screams the lyrics and you can actually understand what he's saying, biting dark humor and all.
I gave this five stars because it accomplished what every great album should strive for: a coherent, powerful conveyance of emotion and passion for the music, death metal and all.
I recommend you play this one at high volumes, preferably in a residential suburban area.