This is the first time that I hear about this French band from Marseille called STONE HORNS. The group exists since 2016 and its lineup includes Mael Taquelmint on drums, Damien Servais and Mathis Lakermance on guitars, another lead guitarist called just Antoinne and the bassist/vocalist and also guitarist (again) Devf. Quite a lot of guitars those guys have, didn't they ?! "Chimaira" is STONE HORNS's third full-length album after the debut "The Beast Inside" from 2018 and "Rise of Apophis" from 2021.

The new "Chimaira" album offers seven tracks and the opening one "Grasping the Embers of Exile" is more than seven minutes long! This is something that one can expect from Doom metal bands but STONE HORNS have little to do with the Doomish scene. The beginning is quite disturbing for me - it starts with gentle guitars and clean vocals with quite a Gothic sound. Fortunately, soon the heavy guitars kick in and what we receive is something reminding of the recent albums of MACHINE HEAD. The vocalaist Devf delivers several type of vocals, he is probably trying to sound like COAL CHAMBER/DEVILDRIVER's singer Dez Farfara, there are screams, grunts and some clean singing. There is a long guitar lead of course which sounds good but Devf's vocals are something that is really challenging to listen to. After we go through the almost 8 minutes of the opening song, comes the second "No Mercy" which fortunately is much shorter. It is also much more energetic, sounds quite like COAL CHAMBER from the mid-90's when the so called New Metal was at its peak. The clean singing again spoils the otherwise good track. The song ends with a powerful breakdown part and some deep Death metal growls. "Terra Generis" follows with a strong SLIPKNOT influence that is obvious from the start. Same can be said about the next song called "Age of Chimairas" - it sounds like a mix between SLIPKNOT and MACHINE HEAD. Again there is a decent guitar lead. "Chrysalis" comes after that and it starts with blastbeats and a deep growl which then transforms into some fast spoken words. Anyway, this track is the most powerful so far. "In the Clutches of the Abyss" also possesses plenty of energy, it starts with a Thrashy rhythm then some blastbeats then some breakdowns. So it has quite a lot of rhythm patterns. "Echoes of a Fallen Empire" is the final track in "Chimaira" and it delivers a good melodic line and some heavy guitar riffs.

STONE HORNS are a band that will appeal to you if you like the modern Metal sound that mixes New metal with Thrash with Death with whatever. This record isn't bad but it isn't something exceptional either. Everything that you will hear here you have heard somewhere else before. But if you are into this kind of Metal sound you can check this out.