ALBUM REVIEW:​ CHEVELLE'S ‘Bright As Blasphemy’ Proves Another Strong Addition To 2025’s New Hard Rock, Metal Albums Field

BY: Philip Sayblack

​Chevelle fans have a lot to be excited about this month.  That is because earlier this month, the band released its latest album, Bright as Blasphemy and launched a tour in support of the record, the band’s 10th full-length studio recording.  The next stop on that tour will be Sunday night in the nation’s capital.  That stop will be followed up by a performance Wednesday night in Raleigh, NC.  No doubt the band is performing a number of songs from its latest album, too.  For those who maybe have not heard the album either at one of the band’s shows or on record, it is a mostly successful record that is well worth hearing at least once.  That is due in part to its featured musical arrangements.  The lyrical themes that accompany that musical material add to the album’s interest.  The record’s production puts the finishing touch to the whole.  Each item noted plays its own important part to the overall presentation of Bright as Blasphemy.  All things considered they make the record another welcome addition to this year’s field of new hard rock albums.
Bright as Blasphemy, the latest album from Chevelle, is a presentation that the veteran hard rock band’s fans and more casual audiences alike will agree is worth hearing at least once.  That is due in part to its featured musical arrangements.  The arrangements presented throughout the album’s 39-minute run time are engaging and entertaining. This despite the reality that from one to the next none of the featured arrangements really breaks any new ground for the band.  That familiar blend of “dark prog” from Tool and post-hardcore Project 86-esque lean are just as much on display as ever.  Now that is not to say that this is necessarily a bad thing.  That is because even with that noted, the band – brothers Pete and Sam Loeffler, and Dean Bernardini – has still managed to ensure each composition here has its own identity.  So, in short, what audiences get here is plenty of familiarity in the record’s musical arrangements alongside something that is still fresh. 
Understanding and accepting the familiarity of the arrangements featured throughout Bright as Blasphemy, listeners will naturally move on to the lyrical themes featured across the album’s nine total tracks.  The themes in question follow one central, overarching theme, that of “the exploration of manipulation, blind following, an societal susceptibility.”  From one song to the next, the band does an impressive job of tackling these topics.  Case in point is the album’s two-part song, ‘Cowards.’  Split into two songs – ‘Rabbit Hole’ and ‘Jim Jones,’ the songs examine how societies are set up for manipulation and then manipulated by various forces.  In the case of ‘Jim Jones,’ that force was the evil, cult leader Jim Jones.  As the album progresses into ‘Hallucinations,’ the band tackles the noted overarching theme of manipulation by examining how leaders give people false hope of freedom but in reality they use fear to make people believe they are free.  This very scenario is playing out right here in the United States today under the current administration, so it makes it a very timely examination.
‘Wolves (Love & Light)’ takes that examination even deeper as it takes things in a more philosophical and existential direction.  It examines how the manipulation in question causes people to start questioning their own morals.  Again, those who start to realize the manipulations happening do in fact start to face that moral ambiguity.  We see it in the people who voted for the current administration only to be betrayed by its officials.  So again it is a fully relevant topic.
The matter of blindly following comes into play in the very next song, ‘Karma Goddess.’  This as Pete Loeffler sings, “Night lit/Eyes fixed/Insight of it/No wonder lines get crossed/This undying love for kingdom come/And somebody burst the bubble/Of this fairytale/Remember your truth/Oh/If they summon you/They said my blindness needs to be cured/They said my blindness eats/At they nerves/Hey/Simple reminder, kid/Dying hills/They said/My blindness needs to be cured/Trust us/Simply trust us.”  That call to “trust us/Simply trust us” because “my blindness needs to be cured” makes the message here clear.  This is about the leaders telling society that they need to not question; to simply follow blindly.  That is dangerous and sadly is, again, happening daily here in the United States.  To that end it is yet another example of the strength and importance of the album’s lyrical themes.
From there, the themes of examining society’s manipulation and the consequences thereof continues in the record’s final three tracks in equally interesting fashion.  All things considered, the deep, hard hitting lyrical content presented throughout this record plays into the record’s equally heavy musical arrangements to make for so much impact.  The result of that combined engaging and entertaining content is a presentation that is certain to appeal plenty of audiences.
Adding one more layer of appeal within this album is its general production.  There is a lot going on in this record, between the heavy, rich instrumentation in each song and the vocals.  Each side compliments the other just right from beginning to end.  Yesa, there is a lot of energy and a lot of heaviness but thanks to the painstaking efforts that went into balancing both sides, the result is a positive sound that further immerses audiences in the album.  Keeping that in mind, the positive aesthetic impact of the production works with the album’s content to make the whole one more powerful offering from Chevelle that is also a welcome addition to this year’s field of new hard rock and metal albums.
Bright as Blasphemy, the latest full-length studio recording from Chevelle, is a powerful new offering from the veteran hard rock band.  It is a presentation that will appeal equally to the band’s established audiences and to more casual listeners.  That is due in no small part to its featured musical arrangements.  The arrangements are of note because of their familiarity in style.  The lyrical themes, which follow one central, overarching topic, bring their own interest.  That is because of their resonance.  Everything examined lyrically in these songs is happening here in the United States to this very day.  It makes every song fully relevant lyrically.  In all honesty the overarching theme featured here is both timely and timeless.  To that end, it could be argued to be the album’s cornerstone.  The record’s production puts the finishing touch to the presentation.  Each item examined is important in its own way to this album.  All things considered they make Bright as Blasphemy another strong addition to this year’s field of new hard rock and metal albums.
Bright as Blasphemy is available now.  More information on the album and the band’s supporting tour is available along with all of Chevelle’s latest news at:
Website: https://getmorechevelle.com
Facebook: https://facebook.com/chevelle
Twitter: https://twitter.com/chevelleinc