I’m going to miss The Chariot. Between their brutal yet chaotic riffs, their extremely creative song structures, and their quirky and often thematically linked song titles, they’re one of the most interesting and least predictable bands to ever be saddled with the frustratingly reductive genre tag of “metalcore.”
I’m going to miss The Chariot. Between their brutal yet chaotic riffs, their extremely creative song structures, and their quirky and often thematically linked song titles, they’re one of the most interesting and least predictable bands to ever be saddled with the frustratingly reductive genre tag of “metalcore.” Despite constantly shifting lineups that left founding vocalist Josh Scogin the only member to appear on all of their releases, The Chariot have a sound that is both well-defined and unique, one that you can easily recognize on any of their releases. From 2004 debut Everything Is Alive, Everything Is Breathing, Nothing Is Dead, and Nothing Is Bleeding, all the way up to last year’s One Wing, they’ve maintained a consistent musical quality that is hard to come by in any era.
Photo by Jenn Harrington
And more importantly than any of this–throughout their career, The Chariot have been one of the most reliably incredible live bands in existence. Many documents of their most insane moments can be found on youtube–from their legendary set at the 2008 Cornerstone Fest, which ended with the band piling their amps into a 12 foot high stack in the middle of the stage, then somehow finishing their last song amid the rubble of their equipment, to the worldwide mania captured in their video for “Teach,” from 2009’s Wars And Rumors Of Wars. We got to see some of that madness recreated with their mindblowing March 2011 set at The Canal Club (during which bassist Jon “Wolf” Kindler threw his bass on the ground and dragged it around by its strap at least half a dozen times, and drummer David Kennedy ended one song by diving off his drum kit). And with The Chariot currently on their farewell tour–one last jaunt around the United States before ending the band forever–we can imagine that they’ll be pulling out all the stops for their show at Kingdom on Friday, October 18.
So: you should be there! The Chariot are accompanied on this tour by several other bands, including VA’s own chaotic metalcore quartet Glass Cloud, French fast/chaotic hardcore band Birds In Row, Seattle’s melodic-yet-heavy hardcore crew To The Wind, and Georgia moshcore newcomers Rebuker–who are managed by fellow Georgia resident Josh Scogin of The Chariot (that is certainly not a coincidence). VA Beach’s Our Voice The Vessel and RVA locals Seraph will open the whole thing up. Admission is only $12 in advance (purchase tickets here: http://www.ampedandalive.com/eventdetails.aspx?eventId=1277), and believe me, it will be worth it.
Above is the internet trailer for The Chariot’s farewell tour, entitled “All’s Well That Ends Well.” Below is the aforementioned video clip from their 2008 performance at Cornerstone. Once you’ve watched it, you’ll understand why it’s so vital that you don’t miss your last chance to see this band live. So yeah, don’t blow it.
