Side Chain has come back as a trio and is descending into madness with their latest exhilarating and enigmatic single, “Megalomaniac.”
The song opens with a scene straight out of a fever dream. Shimmering guitar lines dance over a muffled news report, creating a sense of unease that builds with every second. Then, the dam breaks. Electrifying guitars explode into life, backed by a relentless drumbeat.
James “Chip” Pennington’s vocals are the perfect foil for this sonic chaos. He delivers the lyrics with a slow, tense, and mysterious tone, his rich voice dripping with dark charisma and a stoic gravity perfect for telling the story and giving us the creeps. The song dips in and out of this haunting atmosphere, with moments of shimmering tranquility, punctuated by Pennington’s vocals, now low, soft, and delicate, but he rises to the challenge and once more morphs into aggression and pulls us out of grief with soaring vocals.
Giving way to full-blown rock fury, gnarled, distorted guitars intertwine with crashing cymbals, creating a wall of sound that’s as heavy as it is captivating. With a brief respite, you think you’ve reached the bottom, “Megalomaniac” throws you a curveball with the bridge. A shimmering guitar solo cuts through the noise, a beacon of light in the darkness. After a push and pull from introspection to anger and renewed intensity, we are left disoriented with lingering questions.
“Megalomaniac”’s music video is the very first for the band. Check it out, because it perfectly complements the song’s dark and twisted atmosphere, with scenes of an asylum adding a layer of visual intrigue.
A New Era for Side Chain, find the darkest corners of your mind with Side Chain’s “Megalomaniac.”
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Review by Naomi Joan