Written by Jennifer Moglia
Nashville hardcore band Chamber is finally back with their full-length debut, titled “Cost of Sacrifice.” This serves as the follow-up to 2019’s “Ripping / Pulling / Tearing”, essentially a compilation of their previous EPs.
I was introduced to the Pure Noise band from Music City when I saw them on the Private Room 2.0 Tour a little under a year ago, supporting END, Stray From the Path, and Counterparts. Their stubborn, invigorating sound fully had my attention for the entirety of their set, and I had been hooked since.
“Cost of Sacrifice” starts off with “Fracture”, which is a bit of a slow burn at first, but when it shifts into full gear, you better buckle up. The percussion and guitar riffs take center stage here, making it the perfect introduction to this record.
Up next is “Scars in Complex Patterns”, the lead single off of this album and an early favorite of mine for sure. The combination of swinging guitar riffs layered over vocalist Jacob Lilly’s screams towards the middle of the song is comparable to a perfect storm and helps make this stand out.
Track three, “Paranoia Bleeds” is full of starts and stops, following a frantic pace that only pauses abruptly and briefly to give listeners just a second to breathe. The silence that closes this track is immediately halted by the opening of “Visions of Hostility”, the album’s third single, another frenetic blast of energy.
The slow, looming percussion and guitar riffs in the opening of “Impulse” are some of my favorite elements instrumentally on this entire album, adding to the whole atmospheric feel of the record. This track as a whole is very immersive, with the ending taking on a more melodic approach that works perfectly.
Also released as a lead single, “In Cleansing Fire” has some of Lilly’s most furious vocals yet, coupled with smooth guitars and, in contrast, more rough-around-the-edges percussion. Guitarist Gabe Manuel explained that this record was written in a time of distress for the band, that the members of the band “were all going through [their] own personal struggles and...found solace in working on these songs and getting everything [they] were feeling out on the table”, and that definitely shines through in the delivery of the vocals here.
This album’s most recent single, “Numb (Transfuse)”, is another highlight of this record, full of hard-hitting breakdowns and feral screams, along with some more spoken lyrics. Followed up by the unique opening of “The Edge of Every Lie”, these songs make up potentially the strongest one-two punch on the tracklist.
Things wind down with “Disassemble:Reassemble”, presenting a near mechanical-sounding opening followed by creeping crescendos and decrescendos, making for an all-around eerie sound. We close with the title track, “Cost of Sacrifice”, combining all of the best elements of the album for an incredible ending.
As a whole, Chamber definitely did not disappoint on their first full-length. In a genre that is often claimed to be “dead”, they were able to create something so engaging and all-consuming, fusing together elements of both classic hardcore and subgenres like metalcore, which is certainly an accomplishment.
“Cost of Sacrifice” is available to stream wherever you listen to music, and you can support Chamber by following them on Twitter @Chamber615 as well as grabbing some merch from their online store, including vinyl, shirts, hoodies, hats, new album bundles, and more. If you listened to this record and loved it as much as we did, feel free to tweet us your thoughts @lgndsoftmrw.
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