Review – Chevelle – Bright As Blasphemy

Artist: Chevelle

Album: Bright As Blasphemy

Rating: 8/10

Chevelle’s “Bright as Blasphemy”, released on August 15, 2025, stands as the band’s tenth studio record and their first under Alchemy Recordings following a long tenure with Epic. Self-produced by Pete and Sam Loeffler with encouragement from trusted collaborator Joe Barresi, the album arrives with an air of independence and conviction. It feels less like a reinvention and more like a deliberate statement—Chevelle trimming the fat, distilling their sound, and leaning into the full weight of their identity. In a rock landscape often cluttered with overproduction and compromise, this record is a raw, uncompromising reminder that Chevelle have always thrived by staying true to their own blueprint.

From its opening track, “Pale Horse,” the album makes clear its intent to wrestle with darker currents. The song’s doom-laden riffs and tense atmosphere set the stage for a body of work preoccupied with mortality, manipulation, and unease. This thematic depth crystallizes in the two-part “Cowards” narrative: “Rabbit Hole (Cowards, Pt. 1)” examines digital obsession and the suffocating pull of the online world, while “Jim Jones (Cowards, Pt. 2)” explores the dangers of cultish obedience with a chilling sense of urgency. In both tracks, Chevelle anchor their social commentary in riffs that bite and choruses that stick with you and linger with you throughout the whole album.

But ‘Bright as Blasphemy’ isn’t simply a collection of heavy-hitting tracks—it’s a carefully built soundscape. On “Hallucinations,” guitars shimmer and swirl, creating a haze that blurs the line between dream and reality, while Pete Loeffler’s vocals hover between vulnerability and menace. “Wolves (Love & Light)” offers a snarling counterpoint to naïve optimism, its lyric—“All love and light till the teeth sink in”—embodying the album’s skeptical worldview. Later, “Karma Goddess” evolves from eerie ambience to explosive aggression, driving home the idea that consequences, whether personal or spiritual, always come due.

Several moments rise above even Chevelle’s high standard. “AI Phobias” is a blistering cut that captures our modern anxieties with visceral urgency, while “Wolves (Love & Light)” and “Karma Goddess” highlight the band’s ability to balance atmosphere with ferocity. These tracks feel like the spine of the album—proof that Chevelle can pair their signature heaviness with lyrics that cut to the bone. While the record never chases radio polish, it doesn’t lack hooks; instead, its appeal lies in riffs that envelop and moods that seep in gradually, rewarding listeners willing to sit with its weight.

Critical response has varied, with some praising the album as a “haunting triumph of reflection and power,” while others note a lack of overtly sharpened hooks. Yet even the more restrained reviews concede that Bright as Blasphemy feels like a refinement rather than a retread. After two decades, Chevelle know their strengths—densely layered guitars, pounding rhythms, and lyrics that refuse to flinch from the world’s darker corners. The record doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel, but instead polishes it into something heavy enough to crush, yet sharp enough to cut.

Ultimately, “Bright as Blasphemy” is not escapism—it’s confrontation. In a time when much of rock feels fractured or forced, Chevelle deliver an album that is striking in its sincerity. They don’t chase trends, they don’t offer easy catharsis, and they certainly don’t soften their edges. Instead, they present a body of work steeped in dread, honesty, and power. It’s an album built to be played loud, pondered deeply, and felt in the gut. For a band now ten albums deep, that level of conviction might be the most blasphemous thing of all.

For more information please visit the band at their website for more information and tour dates at https://getmorechevelle.com/