The Fiancée — The Chariot

The Chariot's second album, The Fiancée, came out on Solid State Records on April 3, 2007. It's ten songs in under half an hour (29:34), produced by Matt Goldman. The band came from Douglasville, Georgia. Josh Scogin, who'd left Norma Jean to start it, sang. Jon Terrey and Dan Eaton played guitar, Jon Kindler played bass and Jake Ryan played drums. Read the first eight song titles in order and they spell out a poem called The Backward Rhyme. It sits on our hardcore shelf, loud, loose and built to sound live. It scores an 8/10.

What you're hearing

The record barely stops for breath. Scogin screams over guitars that feel like they might fall apart at any moment, and the band leaves in the noise and feedback most producers would clean up. Then it does things nobody expected from a hardcore record. Sacred Harp singers, from the shape-note hymn tradition of the American South, turn up on And Shot Each Other and The Trumpet. Hayley Williams of Paramore sings on Then Came to Kill, a remake of Kenny Gibler from the band's earlier Unsung EP. Aaron Weiss of mewithoutYou plays harmonica at the end of Forgive Me Nashville, which the band wrote as an apology to its Nashville fans.

Jesus Freak Hideout's David Goodman gave it 3.5/5 on April 17, 2007, and summed it up as "musically brutal, lyrically worshipful, and fleeting in length." AllMusic and Alternative Press both gave it 4/5, Cross Rhythms gave it 8/10, AbsolutePunk gave it 79% and Music Emissions gave it 5/5. Punknews was cooler at 3/5.

How it was made

Goldman's production sounds close to the band's live show, and the extra voices give the record its color. The Trumpet takes its name from a Sacred Harp hymn that's also known as The Chariot, which ties the album back to the band's own name. The video for They Faced Each Other was built from about 4,000 photographs. The packaging earned a nomination for Recorded Music Packaging of the Year at the 2008 Dove Awards.

Where the score lands

It gets an eight because it's one of the boldest heavy records of its year, and it never feels like a gimmick. The hymn singers, the guest spots and the poem in the track list all serve the songs. The reviews line up, with 4/5 from AllMusic and Alternative Press and 8/10 from Cross Rhythms. Why not a nine? Goodman's "fleeting" point stands. Under thirty minutes of near-constant chaos can feel like one long song, and Punknews' 3/5 shows not everyone was sold. Why not a seven? They Faced Each Other, Then Came to Kill and the Sacred Harp moments are too memorable to mark down any further.

Watch

They Faced Each Other leads with its official music video. After it come the album versions of Then Came to Kill with Hayley Williams and And Shot Each Other with the Sacred Harp singers.

Where this album sits on Loud Faith

The Fiancée shows how far the Solid State sound could stretch by 2007. It keeps the raw energy of hardcore and adds a link to the oldest strand of American church singing. It belongs on our hardcore shelf, as the record that proved worship and chaos could share a room.