Posted on: September 8, 2007 Posted by: James McQuiston Comments: 0

Chasing Victory – Fiends / 2007 Mono Vs Stereo / 10 Tracks / http://www.chasingvictory.com / http://www.monovsstereo.com /

Chasing Victory is a band that is from deep in the heart of Georgia. They’ve toured before with Project 86, August Burns Red, and The Devil Wears Prada. This means that they are a Christian hardcore band, but one would likely not hear that when the horns kick in on a track like “Wolves”. “Wolves” has hardcore elements to it, but also links together that style with more Velvet Revolver-like styles of rock and angular dance-punk.

The resulting style is something that has not been heard before, and while the band would still fit reasonably well in the “hardcore” genre, they push the definition of that genre to its’ breaking point. I cannot believe that the band played with Project 86, because that would mean that two of the bands play the same sort of eclectic music that bounce thorough tens of influences before moving into a cohesive and coherent type of chorus. However solid “Wolves” was, “Chemicals” comes forth with a little bit of groove cum stoner metal that will make fans of Corrosion of Conformity salivate. The band comes back to the higher-register screaming that is present in many of a hardcore song, but the inclusion of this dusty, Doors-ified sound gives a wider swath of individuals more of a reason to focus in. “Fiends” (the track) sounds almost as if the band will go into a Fall Out Boy type of sound, but Chasing Victory eschews that arrangement and throws in a little bit of the detached guitars of At The Drive-In to change things up considerably.

It would be really hard to hear the “Christian” part of their sound owing much to the diversity of approaches that are present on this album. They fit in well with acts like Norma Jean and the aforementioned Project 86, and I believe their star will only rise as individuals are able to pick up “Fiends”.  There is little that is immediately screaming to me that Chasing Victory needs to do. There could be a little bit more smoothed out arrangements at the high registers, but this is such a minor issue that it can be ignored. If the band can tighten up their sound in that way, I have a feeling that they will start getting on Headbanger’s Ball and achiever higher and higher levels of fame. If you like hardcore, or bands experimenting with different genres, “Fiends” is a great album.

Top Tracks: Chemicals, Fiends

Rating: 6.9/10

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