I admit that when I first heard Chevelle on the radio I pegged them as just another Tool clone and had no desire to hear anything more from them. Then one night, a few years ago I was at a party and someone put on their Wonder What's Next cd. It instantly grabbed my attention and I asked someone who the band was. When they said it was Chevelle I was surprised and wanted to shrug it off but I couldn't ignore the impact it had on me. So I went home and sampled some more songs off the cd. There were a few I really liked right off... Forfeit, Closure and An Evening With El Diablo. I listened to those songs over and over and over for a couple months until I grew tired of them. Then I decided to give the other songs a chance. Well, I ended up liking the entire cd after giving it another chance and pretty much wore it out. So I was really looking forward to This Type... coming out. It definitely did not disappoint! I liked every song almost instantly...which is extremely rare these days. The emotion and energy that comes through along with the killer riffs and driving bass lines ... it's just powerful stuff. Combine that with the way the drums seemed to flow so well the with the emotion and melodies, you can really feel the sound on a very raw level.

No doubt Pete's voice and harmonies mock Maynards vocal style... and there's definitely some Danny Carey influence in Sam's drumming techniques but all in all, they really have their own unique style and sound. They're not as experimental as Tool though Pete's lyrics are often cryptic and the way their songs flow is very different. If you listen to the progression of their style and notice how they've developed and grown over the years, you'll notice some recurring patterns most of which definitely cannot be compared to Tool. You just have to give them a chance. I'd have to say Tool is definitely in my top 3 as far as favorite bands, but I'm not ashamed to say that Chevelle is right up there in my top 5.