Chimaira Have Three Generations of Fans, Says Mark Hunter

While their first album wasn't released until 2001, Chimaira have been a band since 1998, meaning the Cleveland band spans three decades. They're currently touring Australia and Europe in support of their fifth album, last year's 'The Infection.' Vocalist Mark Hunter says the constantly-evolving sound of the band, as well as their longevity, has given Chimaira three generations of fans.

"When we started, we were playing with bands that were in the nu-metal realm, and we were playing parts of the country we haven't been back to since," he tells Noisecreep. "On 'The Impossibility of Reason' era, those kids have all grown up, and now we have a whole new set of fans. If I remember back to myself when I was first into metal, I'd listen to groups, I'd get out of them for a little bit, and maybe I'd come back to them. It's a normal cycle, and we've definitely been around long enough to experience it a couple of times now."

Chimaira may have picked up some additional fans from playing last year's Music as a Weapon Tour, opening for Disturbed. "I know a lot of underground metal fans will say what they will about Disturbed, but they genuinely come from heavy metal roots and like heavy metal music," Hunter says. "For them to recognize a band like us says a lot about them right off the bat. To know what we sound like and put [Chimaira] in front of their audience. I thought it was a gamble, but we proved to them the first night they made the right choice, and we never really had any bad shows; 95 percent of the shows for us were unbelievable and some of the most memorable shows we've ever done. I think it helped our band a lot, and we're very grateful for that."