Album Review: The Chariot - 'Wars and Rumors of Wars'

The Chariot’s founding father Josh Scogin has a penchant for only thing; making noise, much like a kid bangin’ on pots and pans with a wooden spoon. 

One need only look through the Chariot’s back catalogue to get a fair picture of what I mean. From the messy, and recorded live off the floor Everything is Alive, Everything is Breathing Nothing is Dead and Nothing is Bleeding through to their last, and thankfully, less wordy album The Fiancée the constant seems to be the need to make  heavy, abrasive and as noisy as possible rock n roll. 

Wars and Rumours of Wars is no exception to this. Opening track “Teach:” sees Scogin growling desperately “victory is such a lonely word” before it all collapses into a sloppy stop/start breakdown which somehow sticks. 

Second track “Evolve:” is a rollicking number and includes a weird piece in the middle where Scogin seems to spit and the listener can actually hear it coming out of his mouth.  It sounds kind of gross, but exemplifies his intense vocal delivery. The track builds to an epic discordant section reminiscent of a bastardized Botch. 

Towards the end of this track things seem to lose focus, for it has an outro of noise which carries on for about a minute. Similarly, track 3 “Need:” has an interlude of guitar noise which lasts for about 40 seconds. This wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the fact the song is a tad under 2 minutes in length. 

 Track four “Impress:” starts with galloping punk rock urgency and then gives way to a heavy dirge section that is so good I wish it would build into something else, but instead peters out with the repetition of an unaccompanied riff. 

Number 6 “Giveth” is a real ground stomper, and shows that The Chariot are more than willing to explore dynamics in their sound. It ebbs and flows, and shows a marked improvement in musicianship since The Fiancée. 

The standout on the album is track 8 “Daggers”, which despite being only 3 minutes 40 seconds is an epic, and a free lesson from Scogin and his cronies in controlled chaos.

While previous Chariot releases have all been heavy and noisy, none have struck with the exact intensity or urgency found on this album. 

1. "Teach:" – 2:53
2. "Evolve:" – 2:59
3. "Need:" – 1:55
4. "Impress." – 2:12
5. "Never I" – 3:28
6. "Giveth" – 3:29
7. "Abandon." – 3:01
8. "Daggers" – 3:43
9. "Oversea" – 0:44
10. "Mrs. Montgomery Alabama III." – 6:00