Chevelle Opens Up a Demonic Door Full of Fiery Riffs

Chevelle is back, hungry, and ready to deliver some bone crunching words in the first installment off its new foray into the rock world, "The North Corridor", which goes by the moniker "Door To Door Cannibals". Kudos to guitarist Pete Loeffler for delivering the fire that refuses to be extinguished. The bridge explodes with his hefty hooks and you start to wonder, "Did a real human being actually drive home these enticing sounds. The pacing goes ever so deliberate, the better to wring out each flop sweat inducing nugget. Pete's lyrics make you groan in all the right places. You're in the middle of the horror show yet at a safe enough distance where the threat of bodily harm is remote, if it exists at all. How prickly heat inducing does "They're like cannibals from the grass stealing lives" come across to you? Checking to make sure your jugular vein is where you remembered it being last? That's a positive sign if ever one existed. Dean Bernardini drops mouth-watering bass as if he were spreading rich barbecue sauce across genuine choice chuck. Sonically "Door To Door Cannibals isn't without its endearing quirks. The bridge guitar gets us back to the sort of showoff moves that metal lovers desire chapter and verse. Before the fret bore down relentlessly until there was no way you could hope to cry uncle. Sam Loeffler employs his drum labor sparingly but we'd miss it were it nowhere to be found. A little bit here, a little bit there but nothing that suggests a swagger that keeps anyone else from having an opportunity to shine. The collective gets what greater good it's contributing to. I myself like that Chevelle wants for me to take sensible bites of this cut of raw meat rather than wolf it down in one Simpsons style gulp. I get to appreciate the rich flavor palette at work beneath the surface. I get to hear for myself what a multi-tiered masterpiece is brewing. I haven't found too many songs in which reference gets made to the jocular fingers in the face. Chevelle shows us again that there's a first time for everything. In a rock tune that's a daring image to send our way. A little levity alongside our patented rock bugs in the teeth demeanor. Chevelle does the squirm inducing job nicely and we get the sense we need to hold on for dear life because who knows where the ride is going to take us. I believe Chevelle should have no problem selling the masses on how much of a cranium buster they're in for. "Door To Door Cannibals" says quite a mouthful, and does so in zestful fashion.