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One of the angriest, heaviest, loudest, and not to mention talented modern Heavy Metal bands you will lay your ears on, Chimaira is easily one of the genre's most consistently hard-hitting and passionate bands. Formed in the year of 1998, the band is a notable member of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, the modern equivalent of NWOBHM. They originally started off with a Nu-metal / Groove Metal hybrid, eventually dropping the influence from the former and mixing the latter with Metalcore, Death Metal, and Thrash Metal. Well-known in the metal community for their vocalist Mark Hunter and their guitarist Rob Arnold, the band has had several lineup changes since their formation.
Musically, they are noted for their extensive use of double-bass drumming and their brutal, rhythmic vocals. Despite the many influences in their music as stated above, they are labeled by most as a Metalcore or Groove Metal band, though they are far, far more respected than most bands in the former genre. To date, the band has released six studio albums; Pass Out of Existence, The Impossibility of Reason, Chimaira, Resurrection, The Infection, and The Age of Hell.
- Important Haircut: Immediately after Resurrection dropped, Mark cut off his dreadlocks.
- Mohs Scale of Rock and Metal Hardness: Pass Out of Existence is in the 7-8 range, while everything after is around a 9, sometimes even bordering on 10. This is extremely high for a Metalcore band, but then again, they do have a bit of influence from death metal.
- Something Completely Different: The song 'Stays the Same', a leftover track from the band's second album, features no screamed vocals, whereas most their other songs have practically all harsh vocals.
- Early Installment Weirdness: Listen to their first album and listen to every other one.
- Metalcore: One of the heaviest bands in the genre.
- Nu-metal: Their first album.