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The Record Vault: Chimaira – The Dehumanizing Process

“And the minute you get a record deal, all the fun is stripped away. You start analyzing music in a different way. You don’t listen to it for the enjoyment of listening to it, you don’t play it for the enjoyment of playing it”.

“They (the record label reps) will call you up and say, “hey did you hear this new record, maybe you should write a song like it.”

That’s the way “The Dehumanizing Process” documentary starts off.

I was in a band between 1999 and 2005. The singer/guitarist of that band was into the whole Groove metal scene and he burned me the “The Impossibility Of Reason” album which is covered here in the documentary.

And it’s the only thing I own from Chimaira.

The DVD package has the excellent 90 minute documentary, a live concert, the band’s music videos (up to 2004) and a nine track CD, called “This Present Darkness” which is the bands 1999 independent album.

The band went on to sign with Roadrunner Records and released the “Pass out of Existence” album in 2001. It sold okay and they got another chance from Roadrunner Records to do another album.

All the band members were really unhappy with their last album “Pass Out Of Existence” as it was a Nu-Metal album they were pressured to make.

“The Impossibility of Reason” came out in 2003 and you get to see the ending of one journey and the start of a new one in the 90 minutes documentary. Even if you don’t like the band the documentary is worth watching and it’s detailed.

By sticking to their guns and telling the label to get stuffed, Chimaira delivered a career defining album.

The live show is from the tour, filmed in Holland. Watch it, just for the “Wall Of Death”.

The band would do one more Roadrunner album in 2005. Then they got dropped. Signing to different labels, they kept releasing albums up to 2013. And the line up was always evolving with vocalist Mark Hunter the only original member left at the time.

But in 2017, the original band members returned for a few reunion shows and at the moment they are looking at doing a few more.

In between, vocalist Mark Hunter became a journalist for various metal mags and his social media accounts are very active with his views on the music industry and other opinions.

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