Given the fact that this debuted at number five on Billboard, Chiodos hardly need worry about the praise or wrath of the music press. That said, they created their most ambitious work yet. With some passing nods towards their schizophrenic screamo youth, their new record delves into uber-prog rock territory. They still can’t seem to sit down and write a simple rock song. Instead they frankenstein many parts to form unwieldy and overblown wholes. Craig Owens sings to straining degrees, oftentimes sounding like a shriller Gerard Way or Burt McCracken. The band still succeeds at their intriguing musical explorations, such as the various orchestral inclusions or the shuffle rhythm of “Bulls Make Money, Bears Make Money, Pigs Get Slaughtered.” That song title demonstrates Chiodos’ fatal flaw: they’re given to extravagance. They don’t know when to slash the fat and streamline their approach. They end up sounding like the Fat Elvis of screamo. A band with this level of potential could do more with less.

(Equal Vision Records, PO Box 38202, Albany, NY 12203-8202)