Twenty (plus) into its career, Nonpoint remains dedicated to its vision for technical, groove-minded metal. It’s appropriate then, that the outfit’s latest, “Chaos and Earthquakes” is a state of the personal union, a call to perseverance despite knowing that you stand on the precipice of utter destruction. With a chorus that bores its way into the listener’s consciousness and guitar lines that buzz and burn alongside the heaviest of the heavy, the song quickly proves itself one of the quintessential metal songs of 2018.
Culled from the album X (as in the Roman numeral for 10), this reaffirms Nonpoint‘s place in the contemporary metal pantheon. Vocalist Elias Soriano remains very much his own man but also asks listeners to consider the intersection of Slayer’s Tom Araya and the power of the best hardcore hip-hop emcees. With guitarists Rasheed Thomas and B.C. Kochmit forming a mighty duo of distortion and melodic but blazing lead lines as well as the indestructible rhythm section of Adam Woloszyn and Robb Rivera, one can’t help but marvel at the outfit’s compact fist-to-the-gut approach.
Formed in 1997 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the group covered Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” for inclusion on the Miami Vice film reboot in 2006 while remaining a heavy radio staple via tracks such as “Bullet With a Name” and “Alive and Kicking”.
To record the LP, Nonpoint traveled to Chicago, rented a rehearsal space and created a taut collection of 10 songs that were tracked in 22 with Fred Archambault (Avenged Sevenfold) at the helm.
“Chaos and Earthquakes” exemplifies the still hungry approach heard on the album and is a meditation on the end times scenarios played out across all types of media in 2018. The band gives voice to the voiceless and suggests that the answers may not lie in talking heads or YouTube pundits but instead within.
X arrives August 24 via Spinefarm and may be ordered here.
TOUR DATES
Nonpoint with He Is Legend and Letters From the Fire:
8/21: Lexington, KY @ Manchester Music Hall
8/23: Ft. Myers, FL @ The Ranch
8/24: Orlando, FL @ House of Blues
8/25: Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
8/26: Jacksonville, FL @ 1904 Music Hall
8/28: Athens, GA @ 40 Watt Club
8/29: Greenville, SC @ The Firmament
8/31: Jacksonville, NC @ Hooligans
9/2: Lynchburg, VA @ Blue Ridge Rock Fest
9/6: Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Chance
9/7: Hartford, CT @ The Webster
9/8: Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
9/11: New York, NY @ Gramercy Theater
9/14: Syracuse, NY @ Lost Horizon
9/15: Lancaster, PA @ Chameleon Club
9/16: Easton, PA @ One Center Square
9/19: Nashville, TN @ The Cowan