Chiodos were an Emo and Post-Hardcore band, known mostly for their energetic live shows, frequent use of time shifts, complex song structures, piano interludes, references to William Shakespeare and Craig Owens' powerful and emotive voice that's comfortable with both metal screams and musical theatre-esque high notes. A Chiodos song usually features an extensive use of piano along with thrash metal-influenced riffs, quick tempo shifts, and literate lyrics.
They released their debut album, All's Well That Ends Well, in 2005. It caused a huge stir in the post-hardcore community for its ambitious sound and its aesthetic as well as for Craig Owens' intense vocals, which sounded closer to Broadway than to post-hardcore.
They followed this with Bone Palace Ballet, which increased their ambition by featuring classical arrangements influenced by Fiona Apple, cabaret songs, better integrated use of piano, and even straight up metalcore.
The Chiodos released their third album, Illuminaudio in 2010, with Brandon Bolmer replacing Owens as singer. This album further developed their classical-influenced sound and instrumentation, with some Progressive Rock elements in them.
Owens returned as lead singer in 2012 and in 2014, the Chiodos released their fourth album, Devil. Devil stripped back the baroque arrangements, creating a grittier, punk vibe while still containing the Chiodos' signature complexity.
After 15 years together, Chiodos would eventually dissolve.
Tropes featured by Chiodos:
- Author Appeal: William Shakespeare quotes and lush classical instrumentation
- Careful with That Axe: Craig is pretty good at luring you in with a poppy melody only to deliver beastly screams out of nowhere way later.
- Mind Screw: Try and figure out what the music video for "Baby, You Wouldn't Last a Minute on the Creek" is about, just try.
- Out-of-Genre Experience: Bone Palace Ballet features a couple, with "Intensity in Ten Cities" being a sweet piano ballad and "The Undertaker's Thirst for Revenge Is Unquenchable" giving off heavy melodic metalcore vibes.
- Shout-Out: Numerous ones in their song titles, and many to a number of Shakespeare plays and sonnets in their song lyrics.
- Take That!: "I Didn't Say I Was Powerful, I Said I Was a Wizard" is a big one against their hipster-mentality fans who claim they sold out ever since they got big. The band points out that the problem isn't with the music but with the fact that they're not obscure anymore, which is all these fans cared about.
