Somebody recently reminded me of the Chimaira album The Impossibility of Reason. French groove metallers Stone Horns have taken “Chimaira” as the title of their third studio album. It has been released as a concept album, aimed at giving all metal fans something to bang their heads to.
“No Mercy” ends with a major solo that approves of their comparison towards Machine Head and others, while “Terra Genesis” takes more than a bit of inspiration from Slipknot. In taking inspiration from those bands I would love to see some stronger clean vocals in amongst the heavy parts.
The first single “Age of Chimairas” has the band gelling together to create interludes between each verse, with the blast beats coming thick and fast from Maël Taguelmint. The follow-up single Chrysalis brings the groove to continue that sound.
Bands like Slipknot and Machine Head lie heavily in the influences of this Marseille outfit, with lead man Defv responsible for the base of most songs. The guitarists add their complexities to each song.
There are a total of seven songs on the album, lasting around thirty-five minutes. By a third album, I would be expecting closer to an hour for a full-length album. There is some serious riffing to close out “Echoes of a Fallen Empire”.
Anyone who is attending the upcoming Machine Head and Fear Factory tour should probably listen to this album, there should be something on here that you will enjoy from these Frenchmen. There is still room for this band to expand and improve, I will be interested to see their following recordings.
Stone Horns: Facebook
Release Year: 2024
Label: Rockshots Records
Category: Album
Country: France
Reviewed by Daniel Boyle
