Chevelle: La Gárgola review

Just when you thought all of Chevelle’s records might start sounding the same, they throw you a curve ball with their seventh record, La Gárgola, slated for an April 1 release. A follow-up to 2011’s immensely impressive Hats off to the Bull, La Gárgola sees Chevelle taking more of a dark approach to the songwriting process and musical approach. While Hats featured a lot of blues-rock elements and was very similar to Sci Fi Crimes and past releases as a whole, La Gárgola is loaded with creepy intros, infectious and hypnotic riff solo interludes and solo tracks, La Gárgola gives a spooky aura in numerous areas. A lot of the same elements from Hats can be found on La Gárgola but that’s to be expected with producer Joe Barresi returning for this one. Upon first listen, Chevelle  fans will be surprised with how different this record is compared to previous offerings but La Gárgola shows firsthand how musical growth and evolution can happen on a high level even seven records into a career. La Gárgola is the perfect combination of everything Chevelle have done in the past with a new, darker Chevelle that we haven’t seen yet but everyone will come to love. Rating: 8.5/10 -Reggie Edwards