“Bone Palace Ballet” is the new album from Chiodos and is the follow up to their acclaimed debut “All’s Well That Ends Well” which has to date sold in excess of 170,000 units and is still flying off the shelves. Currently the band are experiencing prominent coverage in the US media thanks to appearing in Blender, SPIN, New York Times, Billboard and in the Alternative Press who they are cover stars for this month. It is more than reasonable to say the band are going to get steadily bigger when one takes into account that they have had over 20 million plays on MySpace.

I have to confess that I had not come across the music of Chiodos till being asked to submit a review of their new album. After living with the album for a week or so I can admit that I have developed a bit of a soft spot for their music.  From start to finish there is absolutely no filler on this release and one just instinctively knows that the band have poured their hearts into making this release sonically sound top notch but all importantly they have also paid attention to writing great songs.

The first two tracks on the album  “Is It Progression If A Cannibal Uses A Fork?” and “Lexington Coey Pea- Pot With A Monkey Face” are as catchy as hell with superb sing along choruses and startlingly original arrangements. I found myself thinking the band were a curious mixture of Muse and Avenged Sevenfold but with an individual “X” factor that is the band themselves. Some of the guitar playing shows that Jason Hale and Patrick McManaman are no slouches in the guitar hero stakes thanks to segments of demented picked and sweeping arpeggio passages and some lovely harmony guitar sections that brought to mind classic Queen.

“Bulls Make Money, Bears Make Money, Pigs Get Slaughtered” is a track that bristles with angular rhythms and some raw and attitude laden vocals.” A Letter From Janelle” slows things down slightly and lets the song writing side of the band shine as does “I Didn’t Say I Was Powerful, I Said I Was A Wizard” which ably demonstrates the bands clever use of mixing and using unusual harmony. “Teeth The Size Of Piano Keys” uses nice orchestration to add a bit of depth and reminded me a little bit of the music of Faith No More as it swirled around full of controlled aggression.

“Life Is Perception Of Your Own Reality” opens with an extended classical section before moving into a poppy gothic rock romp that one can imagine is a great vehicle for some live performance madness. “If I Cut My Hair, Hawaii Will Sink” sees the band playing swathes of dark riffs and melodies. It’s a short track but one senses that was its purpose, to move quick and hit hard. “Intensity In Ten Cities” is the band playing their version of a power ballad. It builds nicely and just when you think it will take off the band bring it down again. It’s all very pleasant. The final track “The Undertaker’s Thirst For Revenge Is Unquenchable (The Final Battle) is a dark and instrumentally dense song. The band show off all their abilities on this track as they supply everything to the max, from extravagant singing, drumming, riffs and walls of harmonies.

The striking thing about Chiodos is that they posses a very unique sound and really have something going on in a way that no one else has. There is a great overblown, gothic and larger than life quality to their songs that shows a band rich in imagination and creativity. You could say they are capable of taking their music in any direction that they choose.” Bone Palace Ballet” will hopefully see the band widening their fan base and with talk of the band coming to the UK in 2008 one feels that things are going to get pleasantly hectic for them.

Let us know your views on Bone Palace Ballet

Track Listing

Is It Progression if a Cannibal Uses a Fork?
Lexington. (Joey Pea-Pot with a Monkey Face)
Bulls Make Money, Bears Make Money, Pigs Get Slaughtered
A Letter From Janelle
I Didn't Say I Was Powerful, I Said I Was a Wizard
Teeth The Size of Piano Keys
Life is a Perception of Your Own Reality
If I Cut My Hair, Hawaii Will Sink
Intensity In Ten Cities
The Undertaker's Thirst For Revenge Is Unquenchable (The Final Battle)

Line Up

Craig Owens - Vocals
Bradley Bell - Keyboards
Pat McManaman - Guitars
Matt Goddard - Bass
Jason Hale - Guitars
Derrick Frost - Drums