{"id":45254,"date":"2014-09-24T18:01:55","date_gmt":"2014-09-24T23:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=45254"},"modified":"2014-09-24T18:01:55","modified_gmt":"2014-09-24T23:01:55","slug":"the-chimpz-the-chimpz-ep-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2014\/the-chimpz-the-chimpz-ep-review\/","title":{"rendered":"The Chimpz | The Chimpz EP<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"TheThe Chimpz swing back onto the scene with a raucous new EP and rap-rock fans should be happier than a kid getting a barrel full of dancing monkeys for Christmas. One of the tracks (\u201cRight to Left\u201d) has already been featured on the record-breaking final season of the hit show Sons of Anarchy<\/em> \u2026 and it\u2019s not even close to the best song on the EP.<\/p>\n

As before, the band balances seriousness with enjoyment. They have something to say, but they want to ensure you have fun while listening to their message. Their utter lack of pretension is refreshing, yet the drive to entertain never plummets to the moronic depths of something like Limp Bizkit\u2019s \u201cNookie.\u201d <\/p>\n

Speaking of Limp Dickzit\u2014er, Bizkit \u2026 it\u2019s lazily easy to lump The Chimpz in with the likes of Fred Durst and company, but truth is, The Chimpz are by far the superior band. Their singing, their rapping, their hooks, their songs \u2026 it\u2019s all better than Limp Bizkit, Beastie Boys, Hollywood Undead, or any of the other rap-metal mavericks scratching around out there. In this hybrid rock \u2018n\u2019 roll subgenre, it rarely gets much better than this.<\/p>\n

Best of all, their metal chops are just as impressive as their rap skills. Too often groups that mix rap and metal get the rap part right but the metal elements sound more like an afterthought. The Chimpz, however, actually sound like accomplished metal musicians who could bang out a pretty solid heavy metal album if they ever chose to play it straight and get rid of the rap.<\/p>\n

This latest EP is produced by Ryan Greene (Megadeth) and he engineers everything with the appropriate amount of crunch. This is probably the heaviest The Chimpz have ever sounded, rocking your cochlea with raging rhythms and adrenalized grooves while never forgetting the importance of a good hook.<\/p>\n

The opening anthem, \u201cWar Machine,\u201d perfectly encapsulates the band\u2019s signature style. It\u2019s forged from a hard-hitting metal aesthetic slathered with thick power chords that form the foundation upon which the rap vocals are overlaid before topping the whole sonic concoction off with a clenched fist chorus. Even more metallic is \u201cBattlegrounds,\u201d the biggest bruiser on the EP, brimming with muscular riffs and a soundscape that is all beef, balls and brawn. Lyrics like \u201cIs that all you got \/ Step up to the plate \/ I can\u2019t be beat \/ You only get one shot,\u201d ensure this song will accompany an NFL highlight reel in the near future.<\/p>\n

If the rap-metal revolution was just kicking off, The Chimpz would be leading the charge. But even now, long after the genre\u2019s freshness date has expired, The Chimpz bring the goods with enough force to make some noise. These SoCal rap-metal rebels are rockin\u2019 the party \u2026 and that means the party is not to be missed. Crank up the stereo, crack open a cold one, and let The Chimpz get you jumping around like a gorilla jacked up on amphetamines.<\/p>\n

Genre: Rap Metal<\/p>\n

Band:
\nArtimus Prime (lead vocals, rhythm guitar)
\nChuck P (MC, vocals)
\nScary Cary (lead guitar)
\nShawn \u201cSonic\u201d Lyon (bass)
\nSean Topham (drums)<\/p>\n

Track Listing
\n1. War Machine
\n2. California
\n3. Right to Left
\n4. In a Box
\n5. Save Our City
\n6. Battlegrounds<\/p>\n

Label: Independent<\/p>\n

Webpage: www.thechimpz.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 8\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Mark Allen – Senior Columnist — The Chimpz swing back onto the scene with a raucous new EP and rap-rock fans should be happier than a kid getting a barrel full of dancing monkeys […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":45267,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10848],"tags":[8289,10033,10032],"class_list":{"0":"post-45254","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2014","8":"tag-ep-review","9":"tag-rap-metal","10":"tag-the-chimpz"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}