Send "Chiodos " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Popmatters |
 Due to their previous album, Bone Palace Ballet (title taken from a posthumous collection of poetry by Charles Bukowski), debuting at #5 on the Billboard 200 Chart, you wouldn’t think Chiodos would fool around with their personnel. But here on Illuminaudio, two significant lineup changes have occurred: a new vocalist, Brandon Bolmer (of Yesterday’s [or Yesterdays] Rising, a Deftones-influenced screamo act on Fearless Records, for which Bolmer was the primary songwriter), and a new drummer, Tanner Wayne (of Warped Tour vets Underminded, as well as a brief stint with up-and-comers Scary Kids Scaring Kids). Established member Bradley Bell sees the change as ultimately irrelevant: “We don’t feel like our vision was lost or compromised in any way throughout the writing process.” Chiodos are very optimistic about, and happy with, the results of “this beautiful monster,” as Bell calls it without the least bit of modesty. Unfortunately, the results, despite a few high points, never really strike as anything transcendent of fodder for the Hot Topic demographic. The opening title track is a severely failed attempt at setting the mood, an introduction so stiflingly atmospheric and overly dramatic that only Linkin Park’s recent output comes to my mind, which was also busy firing synapses to induce heavy eyeball rolling. But after that debacle, the album jumps into its strongest track, “Caves”, a great mix of blistering metalcore and dark alternative rock that isn’t perfect, but succeeds in the ways it needs to. Following that is the next strongest song, “Love Is a Cat from Hell” (another Bukowski reference, although a variation), which comes across as an exact blend of My Chemical Romance’s doom and gloom and Coheed & Cambria’s prog-pop-metal. The strength is in the sound songwriting and excellent melodies....full text |
| Sputnikmusic |
| Post-hardcore is beginning to sound suspiciously like pop music mixed with heavy metal. Yeah, there’s screaming here and there, but there is significantly more distance between Chiodos and hardcore punk than there is between a butterknife and a samurai sword. It’s easy to imagine the old timers of the genre turning in their graves (well, their graphic design jobs) because of this, but there is a fairly obvious bright side, and that is glossy, uber-melodic music with a heavyweight punch. And Chiodos certainly deliver on those fronts. The rather awkwardly titled Illuminaudio is a huge, polished affair - one bristling with a newfound, and sorely needed, energy. Any fears that new singer Brandon Bolmer would throw an unwelcome spanner in the works have been proved dramatically wrong; it might be sacrilege to say it, but he’s actually somewhat better than Craig Owens, thankfully devoid of the shrill edge that plagued the former frontman and blessed with an impressive range. It might not have a raw bone in its body – in fact, it sounds like it’s designed to shift mega-units – but with soaring melodies and pounding drums spilling over one another to escape, the album comes out ready for an aesthetically pleasing war. The pleasant, dreamily progressive ‘Illuminaudio’ acts as a subtle intro to the album, and one that exemplifies the earnest but simplistic lyrical content to follow (“through all the roads I travelled, I remained the same”) but it’s ‘Caves’ that really gets the show started, and the beginning of that song will give a very good indication of whether the record is for you or not. A strong, booming beat, some sweetly delivered do-do-do’s and la-la-la’s and some crashing chords; to say that’s all the record offers would be unfair, because there is a little more variety, but if it hasn’t started to grab you already then it probably won’t anytime soon. For those ready to embrace the shine on display, there is a surprising wealth of detail to get stuck into; the songs might not be labyrinthine but they’re beautifully constructed, with neatly judged changes in tone and pace hiding around every corner, from the rabble-rousing intro of ‘Modern Wolf Hair’ to the delicate piano nestled at the end of ‘Love is a Cat From Hell’ and the frankly glorious la-da-da-da’s of ‘Hey Zeus! The Dungeon’. The flourishes of strings and piano sound as pristine as those on any pop record, but they’re tempered here with flashes of heavy, even powerful (oh, what the hell) metal that will sort you out a treat. It's all very two-dimensional, and if the band ever want to create something truly special they'll have to expand the content on future releases; for now, we'll just have to settle for sheer entertainment....full text |
| Lushbeat |
| There will be nothing easy about the release of Chiodos’ third full-length, Illuminaudio. Which is unfortunate considering that they’ve probably put at their most accessible album to date. Call them a product of the times, but Chiodos was, to a certain extent, defined by their former vocalist/lyricist. His vocals alone were cause for controversy, as only such distinct stylings tend to be these days, but his off-stage antics were unfortunately just as much a part of the band as anything they did on stage or on record. Chiodos was never just Chiodos. When he was asked to leave the band, it marked the first time I was actually interested in what the band would do next. All’s Well That Ends Well was tedious at best, over-indulgent at worst. Bone Palace Ballet did a particularly good job in helping the band to condense what it was that actually worked for them, but still felt out of focus. My curiosity was piqued almost immediately as they made the decision to continue on as a band, even after losing their drummer around the same time. All of this is to say, though, that the baggage attached to this album is excessive, and really, unfair. More than anything, though, it’s unnecessary. Illuminaudio is what I had always imagined Chiodos was capable of. It’s where Bone Palace Ballet should have gone. New vocalist Brandon Bolmer helps bring the band in to the realm of the accessible, allowing just enough familiarity to seep in to the songs, but making them, and the band as a whole, entirely his own. That’s not to say that Chiodos has forgotten who they are, or what can be so appealing about them. Tracks like “Love Is A Cat From Hell,” “His Story Repeats Itself,” and “Let Us Burn One,” show their theatrics remain intact, from guitarists Pat McManaman and Jason Hale shredding their way through each track, to keyboardist Bradley Bell punching his keys in to every empty (and not so empty) space he can, this is a band that is finally in control of all of their more outlandish impulses. “Hey Zeus! The Dungeon” plays as one of the ultimately more satisfying tracks, as it allows everyone in the band to add something definitive to the mix. New drummer Tanner Wayne stutters his way through one of the bands somewhat lighter pieces, and helps lead them in to one of their heaviest, “Stratovolcano Mouth,” where bassist Matt Goddard helps hold some of their more adventurous guitar work together. This track also helps to highlight something that should be talked about just as much as the album itself – the full-to-the-brim, speaker rupturing production. Vocals spacey and slightly distorted, guitars crunchy but audible, piano riding just right in the mix. Drums and bass well balanced. The sound of the album is absolutely superb. This is Chiodos maximum, the sonically lush, crushingly heavy, theatrics inclined post-Hardcore band they’ve been working towards from the beginning....full text |
| Lushbeat |
| There will be nothing easy about the release of Chiodos’ third full-length, Illuminaudio. Which is unfortunate considering that they’ve probably put at their most accessible album to date. Call them a product of the times, but Chiodos was, to a certain extent, defined by their former vocalist/lyricist. His vocals alone were cause for controversy, as only such distinct stylings tend to be these days, but his off-stage antics were unfortunately just as much a part of the band as anything they did on stage or on record. Chiodos was never just Chiodos. When he was asked to leave the band, it marked the first time I was actually interested in what the band would do next. All’s Well That Ends Well was tedious at best, over-indulgent at worst. Bone Palace Ballet did a particularly good job in helping the band to condense what it was that actually worked for them, but still felt out of focus. My curiosity was piqued almost immediately as they made the decision to continue on as a band, even after losing their drummer around the same time. All of this is to say, though, that the baggage attached to this album is excessive, and really, unfair. More than anything, though, it’s unnecessary. Illuminaudio is what I had always imagined Chiodos was capable of. It’s where Bone Palace Ballet should have gone. New vocalist Brandon Bolmer helps bring the band in to the realm of the accessible, allowing just enough familiarity to seep in to the songs, but making them, and the band as a whole, entirely his own. That’s not to say that Chiodos has forgotten who they are, or what can be so appealing about them. Tracks like “Love Is A Cat From Hell,” “His Story Repeats Itself,” and “Let Us Burn One,” show their theatrics remain intact, from guitarists Pat McManaman and Jason Hale shredding their way through each track, to keyboardist Bradley Bell punching his keys in to every empty (and not so empty) space he can, this is a band that is finally in control of all of their more outlandish impulses. “Hey Zeus! The Dungeon” plays as one of the ultimately more satisfying tracks, as it allows everyone in the band to add something definitive to the mix. New drummer Tanner Wayne stutters his way through one of the bands somewhat lighter pieces, and helps lead them in to one of their heaviest, “Stratovolcano Mouth,” where bassist Matt Goddard helps hold some of their more adventurous guitar work together. This track also helps to highlight something that should be talked about just as much as the album itself – the full-to-the-brim, speaker rupturing production. Vocals spacey and slightly distorted, guitars crunchy but audible, piano riding just right in the mix. Drums and bass well balanced. The sound of the album is absolutely superb. This is Chiodos maximum, the sonically lush, crushingly heavy, theatrics inclined post-Hardcore band they’ve been working towards from the beginning....full text |
Chiodos lyrics Music videoclips
