On The Age of Hell, Chimaira play a sort of modern thrash metal with references to both industrial metal and alternative rock. Think slayer meets Fear Factory meets Alice in Chains – sounds like a combination destined to be a failure, but it actually works quite well.
The album starts out pretty aggressively with the title track 'The Age of Hell', which is quite the kick-ass track, but on the second track 'Clockwork', Chimaira shows that they are much more colorful with the insertion of melodic choruses sung in a clean, but sort of grungy voice, while the verses are growled. The entire album is a well balanced combination of aggressive furious Slayer-esque thrash metal riffs combined heavy and groovy riffs, some of which have a Machine Head feel to them while others are more in the vein of Fear Factory's mechanico-nightmarish riffage. And as a nice dynamic touch, there are these passages where the guitars a clean and have a more alternative rock feel, and these ar often accompanied by the above-mentioned clean, but grungy, vocals. There are also a couple of really nice metalcore-like breakdowns every now and then, without Chimaira ever susceptible to accusations of relying on breakdowns.
The Age of Hell is a nice reminder that, amidst the horde of retro thrash metal bands (and don't get me wrong, I really like how old school thrash metal has stormed back onto the metal scene over the last couple of years), there are also artists, like Chimaira, who look ahead and move thrash metal forward, while still remaining true to the essence of the art form that is thrash metal.
Track Listing:
1. The Age of Hell
2. Clockwork
3. Losing My Mind
4. Time Is Running Out
5. Year of the Snake
6. Beyond the Grave
7. Born In Blood
8. Stoma
9. Powerless
10. Trigger Finger
11. Scapegoat
12. Samsara
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