The Red Chord "Clients" CD
[Metal Blade]
This one's another in a long line of massively hyped Metal Blade releases as of late, but it's the only one coming from a band that I both respect and have enjoyed in the past, so when I saw it on sale for a mere $9 smackers I had to take the plunge. What's the verdict? Hell yeah, this shit is ferocious as fuck and the musicianship is super tight. No, I'm not touting it as the hottest shit on the streets these days, as honestly it's not like there's something going on here that hasn't been done before, but the songwriting is strong and everything about the disc possesses a certain air of quality that sets it above much of the competition. Metalcore? Yeah, basically. The chaotic kind that jumps around a lot? Yeah. But what makes the difference is that these fuckers can really play, and most of what they're jumping around to is a technical spin on classic death metal and thrashy speeds with picking patterns that don't sound completely derivative against the landscape of what else is out there right now. And one of the coolest aspects of this fucker is the vocals, which are just thick, nasty growls/shouts that have a really unique sense of hoarse texture and intense power going for 'em, so I'm loving that shit - the vocal performance damn sure adds to the force of this material. "Lay the Tarp" opens with one of the strongest midpaced metalcore breaks I've heard as of late; but as if opening a track with what basically amounts to a breakdown wasn't enough, just check out the trip to mosh nirvana in "Antman", which is otherwise very Deadguy-esque in its use of midpaced rhythmic surges and fucked up dissonant chord bends, and actually breaks into a fairly catchy arrangement for the chorus that's a rare niche for this particular brand of music. There's a nice quirky break in "Upper Decker", one of the longest tracks, with some sweet drum work that kicks out some excellently jazzy flare, later dropping back to similarly restrained clean guitars while the drums get wild with the toms and keep the rumble truckin' before an expected guitar lead brings things back over distant discordant chords and such. "Hospice Residence" then fuses borderline traditional hardcore with grind and some obnoxious (yet fitting) pinch harmonics for grating texture before giving way to some quick death metal chugging and a couple of killer Crowbar-esque bends that I'm all about. Great shit, totally. Some of that sludginess rears its head in the decidedly chunkier "Love on the Concrete" as well, making it one of the best songs herein. But the king of the mountain? "He Was Dead When I Got There": Seven-and-a-half instrumental minutes of pure, molten fury built around amazing midpaced melodic chords and dual guitar harmonies that come out of nowhere with a 70's "stoner" vibe meets a Carcass circa "Heartwork" twist before settling on a Down-esque groove chock full of more beautiful dual guitar work over a couple of distant samples to add a little bit of a sinister undercurrent. I mean, holy shit, if the entire record was this incredible I'd totally shit myself! I have no real quarrels with the production either. The mix is thick as hell but retains enough clarity for the intricacies to shine through without favoring any one element. The bass kind of gets lost, but it's definitely thickening things up back there, so it's still an important element even if the basslines aren't very apparent. The drums seem a little taut at first, but some of that dissipates as your ears adjust, which is helped along by the fact that the percussion is well balanced and does have some punch. As mentioned the vocals sound killer, and I'm all for the guitar tone, too: Always heavy, harsh when necessary, crisp and controlled elsewhere, etc. Paul Romano handled the artwork and this is actually one of the more interesting and unique of his creations as of late, with tons of totally fucked up portrait paintings and little decorative uses of metallic ink. And the lyrics? Twisted narratives to follow suit: "How would you live in a world without pills for everything? The world is knee deep in vices and everybody's got one. Huffing paint and snorting dust. Just to keep life out..." Definitely good stuff, and a step forward from their debut in terms of overall aggression and base proficiency across the board. It's rare for such jarring and jumbled songwriting to be so effective, but spacing out your most powerful riffs really makes a difference, and the way they're coming at it really lets them retain a wild and crazy sense of chaotic complexity while still keeping things somewhat tangible and memorable, and that's the big payoff. There are a couple of numbers that don't quite do the trick here, but when they nail it? Hit the fuckin' deck. (8/10)
Running time - 37:19, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Lay the Tarp, Antman, Hospice Residence, Love on the Concrete, He Was Dead When I Got There]
The Red Chord - http://www.theredchord.com

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