Swing Low Sweet Chariot
In a setting where mathematical melodies and methodical musicianship intersect, there you will find the guttural screams and growls of a man named Josh Scogin, and his band simply named, The Chariot.
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In late 2004 the band raged into the underground metal scene
with their debut album "Everything is alive, everything is breathing, nothing is
dead, nothing is bleeding" and two years worth of tour, the band was quickly
judged by their still growing fan base as " Josh Scogin's reformation of Norma
Jean." With the release of the bands Sophomore album in '07 titled "The Fiancee" It became very clear The Chariot was not in fact front man Scogin's attempt at the recreation of Norma Jean. The Chariot had become its very own, personalized, musical monster. On Sunday, April 27th, I had the chance to see this force of music live and I can only sum up what I saw as simply amazing. With intense musicianship, vocal styling, stage presence and a cult like fan base cheering them on. These five men turn the stage into a three ring circus of organized madness. In order to paint a more clear image as to what I mean by "three ring circus of organized madness", allow me to elaborate on the events I witnessed on this fine Sunday evening. |
The Chariots stage set starts out with a brief greeting from front man Josh Scogin, followed by the first song of the bands set, the greeting alone was enough to cause the crowd of what seemed to be over 400 people to bum-rush the stage in an attempt to get closer to Scogin and the rest of the band.
With the start of the first song a mosh pit of mass size has already broken out less than five feet away from where I was standing. By the third song of their set lead singer Josh Scogin has already been pulled off stage and into the crowd by his fans, while he was leaning over top of them trying to get the microphone to as many fans as he could. It seems to be Josh's theory that if you know the words to one of his songs you might as well help him sing it.
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That's not enough for you? While all of this is going on, Guitarist, Dan Eaton
is pushing the headstock of his guitar into the air duct that runs across the
roof parallel to the stage. During the middle of the fourth song of The
Chariot's set, front man Josh Scogin has extended his mic stand out across the
crowd countless times allowing several people in the crowd the opportunity to
jump up and scream the words of the song into his microphone, all the while,
Bassist Jon "KC Wolf" Kindler has disappeared off stage only to reappear upside
down, over top of the crowd, hanging from a ceiling support beam, just feet away
from a massive mosh-pit. Jon then let go of the support beam, falling into the
arms and hands of the crowd and allowed himself to be crowd surfed back to the
front of the stage. While Jon was busy crowd surfing back to the stage, Josh
Scogin is standing center stage tossing his mic stand around and rocking back
and forth with the stand behind his back. The last song of the set ended with
Drummer, Jake Ryan, knocking over one his floor toms, getting up and walking off
stage. Guitarist Jon Terrey, laying his guitar against his cab and walking away.
Guitarist, Dan Eaton, extending his guitar out over the crowd in order to let
fans, including myself, to grab at his guitar and run our hands across the strings and lastly, Vocalist, Josh Scogin, simply and quietly exits the stage in the same fashion in which he had entered. |
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All in all the stage show produced by this Georgia based band some what reminded me of a Floridian hurricane, a calm but very expected entry followed by a brief period of sheer chaos and then all becomes quiet once more.
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What truly makes this band marksmen of their art form is the fact that while all this utter chaos is going on, on the stage, each band member is playing his heart out. Maintaining heart stopping low-end rhythm, screaming leads and an intense vocal styling that forces your heart to start beating again. There almost seems to be no end to The Chariot's performance or abilities as musicians. To put it bluntly, The Chariot is unforgiving in their fight to re-define the Metal Core music scene. This band of five very talented men hold absolutely no limitations when it comes to their endeavors in producing an almost life changing show. To be honest I could go on and on and on about this band and their many talents...but I won't, no, instead I will close with this. I suggest you go to their website, check out their MySpace, buy their merch, buy both their cd's and most importantly go see them live. Once you've managed to do all those things...come find me and thank me! |
To visit The Chariot's MySpace page click here
By. Tim Fisher
