''This Present Darkness'' is the debut EP of American heavy metal band

Chimaira Chimaira () is an American heavy metal band from Cleveland, Ohio. Formed in August 1998, the group was a member of the New Wave of American Heavy Metal scene. The band's name is derived from the word Chimera, a monstrous creature in Greek my ...

. As of 2007, the EP has sold more than 10,000 copies, and paved the way for the group’s debut album, '' Pass Out of Existence'' which would see a release the following year. Two songs from this EP, "Painting the White to Grey" and "Sphere," were re-recorded for the album's 2001 release.

Background

Track 13 is entitled "Empty" (6:23), track 14 is entitled "Silence" (3:21), and track 69 is a joke song entitled "Satan's Wizard" (2:07). Tracks 6-12 and 15-68 each contain 3 seconds of silence. The hidden tracks, "Empty" and "Silence" were recorded with original bassist Andrew Ermlick. The band wanted the songs to be part of the EP, and they also wanted Ermlick to be part of the record. However, they didn't have the money to bring him in to re-record them so they used the demo versions of the tracks. The two tracks were hidden so that the CD could be sold at the price of an EP. "Empty" features guest vocals from Rob of the band Canister. "Silence" features guest vocals from John Marino, Doug Esper, and Dan Pelleteir. The sample at the end of "Sphere" is taken from the film ''

The Shawshank Redemption ''The Shawshank Redemption'' is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont, based on the 1982 Stephen King novella ''Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption''. It tells the story of banker Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), w ...

'', a favorite of the band members'. "Satan's Wizard" is not a live track; fake crowd noise was added to the recording, and the high pitched vocals are done by Ben Schigel of Sw1tched (the producer of this EP). At the end of the song, he deliberately mispronounces the word 'Chimaira'.

2004 reissue

This Present Darkness was re-released and remastered with two included bonus tracks (but with "Satan's Wizard" omitted). This reissue of the EP came as a bonus item with the '' Dehumanizing Process'' DVD released on October 26, 2004. The song “Refuse to See” that was included in this version is the same track that was included on the band’s 1999 MCD self-titled EP. But the song “Gag” is exclusive to this version only and was never released previous.

Cover art

The person who appears on the front cover is a heavily edited photo of drummer Andols Herrick.

Track listing

Personnel

* Mark Hunter –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

Rob Arnold Rob Arnold (born January 3, 1980) is an American musician, best known for performing as the lead guitarist of the metal band Chimaira and later the rhythm guitarist of the death metal band Six Feet Under. In an interview with Roadrunner Records ...

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

*Jason Hager –

*Rob Lesniak – bass (tracks 1-5) *Andrew Ermlick - bass on songs "Empty" and "Silence" *Andols Herrick – drums

References

{{Authority control Chimaira albums 2000 debut EPs