Chevelle

Born in Chicago as an aggressive, riff-driven trio fronted by siblings, Chevelle shifted from introspective indie roots toward a platinum-certified alt-metal identity, drawing sonic cues from Helmet’s jagged guitar work and Tool’s quiet-to-loud vocal shifts. The group surfaced in the final years of the 1990s, then exploded commercially in 2002 when its second album, Wonder What’s Next, topped charts and launched a string of gold and platinum releases that included 2004’s This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In) and 2009’s Sci-Fi Crimes. Throughout the following decade and into the 2020s the band refined its hook-laden yet punishing fusion of alternative metal, post-grunge, and hard rock on arena-ready statements such as The North Corridor (2016) and Niratias (2021).

Sam Loeffler on drums, Pete Loeffler handling vocals and guitar, and youngest brother Joe Loeffler on bass first assembled in 1995. Early gigs at local parties and outdoor gatherings quickly translated into Chicago club dates even while Joe was still fourteen. Their Steve Albini–produced debut, Point #1, appeared on Squint Entertainment in 1999. After supporting Filter, Sevendust, Powerman 5000, and Machine Head, the band signed with Epic and delivered Wonder What’s Next in August 2002. The record reached platinum status the next summer, driven by the chart-topping single “Send the Pain Below,” and the group joined the main stage of that year’s Ozzfest. A live document, Live from the Road, followed in 2003.

Chevelle returned in fall 2004 with This Type of Thinking (Could Do Us In), whose single “Vitamin R (Leading Us Along)” also dominated rock radio. Joe exited in July 2005; one month later Dean Bernardini, the brothers’ brother-in-law, took over bass duties. The personnel change injected fresh momentum that carried into Vena Sera (2007) and Sci-Fi Crimes (2009). In 2010 the band marked a decade in music with two hometown concerts later issued as the concert film Any Last Words.

After a touring hiatus the group issued its sixth album, Hats Off to the Bull, in winter 2011. Subsequent sessions with producer Joe Barresi (Kyuss, Tool, Queens of the Stone Age) incorporated an array of percussion instruments and yielded the 2014 single “Take Out the Gunman,” which previewed the April release of seventh album La Gárgola. Two years later came the heavier eighth album The North Corridor, again helmed by Barresi and led by “Joyride (Omens).” A 2018 compilation, 12 Bloody Spies, collected B-sides, covers, rarities, and remixes. Longtime bassist Dean Bernardini stepped away in 2019, restoring the lineup to core brothers Sam and Pete. Early 2021 brought the single “Self Destructor,” which anchored the sci-fi-themed ninth album Niratias, arriving that March.