Fed Through the Teeth Machine

Although modern times have given metal some of its most cherished masterpieces, there is a general trend I have been noticing where legions of bands will sound almost indistinguishable from each other, leaving only slight nuances to define their identity as a unique band. American technical deathcore group The Red Chord is one such act that falls into this rut with a thousand other soundalikes, and while these musicians are certainly skilled at what they do, it becomes a somewhat disappointing ordeal due to the fact that there are many other bands out there that can do the same style with more success. With 2009, the band released 'Fed Through The Teeth Machine', which may be considered their greatest work to date, and while I have never been much into either the band or the sort of music they play, their tightness and skill as a group carries the music through, for the most part.

Although the sound of deathcore generally gets panned by many metalheads for being little more than a haven for generic breakdowns and lackluster composition, The Red Chord's technical flaunting does seek to dispel that generalization, delivering some incredibly complex moments with precise double kick drumming, crushing chord rhythms and a lead guitar that rarely lets down its barrage of speedy leads. As is the case for many of these bands however, the vocals do tend to be the weak link, and while they manage to get the raw aggression down fairly well, Kozowyk's growls lack the dynamic needed to be engaging. Instead, 'Fed Through The Teeth Machine' turns into a general waiting game, waiting for the next technical moment of excellence. This requires a fair bit of wading through those generic breakdowns of yore, but for someone looking for a bit of heavy riffing, the journey is worth it.

The only time where The Red Chord really starts getting impressive standing on their own feet is towards the end of the album. 'Sleepless Nights In The Compound' features a passage where the band takes an interesting guitar tapping idea and extends it a little, allowing the idea to develop before the heavy riffs take over once again. To the band's credit, the album is fixed in such a way where it flows nearly seamlessly from track to track, but this effect of oneness would have been present anyways, due to the fact that each song sounds more or less the same, disregarding the aforementioned tapping section, and a few sparse moments where The Red Chord opts to use a bit of restraint in what they do.

A fairly run-of-the-mill technical metal album, and while fans of the band and sort of metal they play will likely enjoy it much more than I did, I cannot see 'Fed Through The Teeth Machine' standing the test of time, despite being a fairly fiery listen.

Holy shit, I really wasn’t expecting this record to be as badass as it is. Not to mention that it has one of the coolest album covers I’ve seen in a long time. From start to finish it pummels your brain with the hammer of Thor and then grabs you by the balls and hurls you into the fiery pits of hell, or some such dark and twisted metaphor.

By the time the first note is blasted out of the speakers you’ll find yourself uncontrollably destroying everything around you.

Being one of the defining bands in the deathcore genre with their release of Fused Together in Revolving Doors, the band obviously feel they did their part with that style and have matured and moved on to greener pastures. This is by far the most coherent and unrelenting record of The Red Chord’s career. They have thrown out the stereotypical deathcore nuances that were so prominent on previous albums and gone for a more straightforward death/grind approach. Though I wouldn’t necessarily call it that, either. It’s just a heavy fucking record.

Guitarist Mike “GunFace” McKenzie really brings out his A-game on this one, being the first record with him as the sole axeman. The solos stand out as well, not implementing your typical incoherent shredding but actually going for melody and feel, which is something I believe really lacks in a lot of newer death metal and grindcore acts. I find myself going back and listening to this record every few days or so, every time I’m craving something balls-out heavy. It is structured extremely well, with only 2 songs going over the 3 ½ minute mark, which can be a plus or a hinderance. The former being the case with this record.

I find myself at a loss for words as I write this, though I am a bit distracted seeing as I am listening to the record right now and find it hard to focus on anything other than its pure brutality. For fear of becoming redundant and continuing to yammer on about how great I think this record is, why don’t you just go buy it? You will thank me later.

I've never been a fan of The Red Chord. Not out of dislike because of the style of music they played or how well they did on Ozzfest or whatever....I just never really got into their music for the simple fact it's not my forte' to be a big metalcore fan. That and their "Clients" album seemed to formulated. Well to make a long story short, a good friend of mine suggested I listen to their new album and little unknown to me it's probably the best stuff they've recorded.

"Fed Through the Teeth Machine" sees the band firing on some major creative cylinders that makes them able to progress on to the next level where they have survived the fallout of metalcore and are nowhere considered part of the new wretched deathcore scene putting them in some good much needed space that they can spread their musical wings a bit. Oh and can I just say that the artwork for the new album cover is fucking freaky? It's a nasty piece of a grinding monolithic evil-fucking machine with some of the most menacing set of choppers outside of The Swans' bleak masterpiece "Filth".

I'm not too keen on speaking on behalf of the performers because in a way I can mention their instruments and the styles, but hell the reader already knows what to expect from this band. But what the reader doesn't know is that they are starting to write their songs way more constructively instead of either being too choppy/techy/progressive or too simplistic(Example: "Antman"). Here they are definitely finding a medium groove where everything flows evenly. Most of the songs are hard fast-chargers, built on speed intended to just fucking wipe everyone and everything off the floor instead of childish, friendly 'mosh' anthems. The red Chord are tired of fucking around obviously.

Being fed through a teeth machine isn't the most comfortable process I can imagine but some of the stand-out tracks are without a doubt the mid-tempo groove of "The Ugliest Truth", the somewhat doomy downtuned misery and failure of "Embarrassment Legacy" and what is probably the best fucking song TRC has ever recorded; "Hour of Rats". If you are to listen to this album, this is the song that you must hear due to the guitar solos which have more of a classic metal approach instead of the dead-tired gothenburg BS. The way Guy Kozowyk screams "COWARDS!" is pure fucking Armageddon!

I can definitely see myself actually purchasing this album. In the near future it will probably find a spot in my CD collection right between Razor and Repulsion or stuck between Horna and Arckanum. Where it may be, it will surely be worth owning because it's the best material The red Chord has put out. Well done gentleman.

The Red Chord, despite being labeled as a deathcore band in some circles, doesn't come across as being one to me. Yeah, they use breakdowns, but those breakdowns feel more like death METAL breakdowns than deathCORE breakdowns, as there is a massive difference between a Red Chord breakdown and a whitechapel one-note DUH-DUH-DUH breakdown. Even still, there are a fair amount of people that can't stand breakdowns in any form, and they should stop reading right now, because they won't like this album. It uses breakdowns even more than on previous Red Chord albums.

Okay, I know I've set this album up poorly, with the whole beginning being about how the Red Chord uses breakdowns, and how that pisses people off. But anyone with a reasonably open mind shouldn't hesitate to pick this album up, as it turns out to be one of the best death metal releases of the year thus far. In the context of an album, and the flow in particular, this album eclipses all previous Red Chord albums. The songs flow into each other logically without much choppiness (though it's certainly not a one-song monster a la Edge of Sanity's Crimson).

Take the first two songs for example, "Demoralizer" and "Hour of Rats". They flow perfectly, even though the former has a stop-on-a-dime ending. This leads me to another wonderul point about the album. It's their shortest album since their genre-creating debut, Fused Together in Revolving Doors, at 35 minutes. Here's the thing, though: it doesn't feel like it. Both the aforementioned tracks are under three minutes, but both feel longer, more like complete songs. "Hour of Rats" might be the strongest track on the album; it goes from a fast, blast-beat laden intro, through some quick stop/start riffing, a wonderful melodic section, leading into a quick, yet perfect solo.

It's this kind of non-traditional, yet totally cohesive and sensible song structure that elevates this band up above all the imitators. The talent on display don't hurt either, though. Mike, Greg, and Brad are some of the best musicians in the business, and Guy's incredibly unique vocals compliment them perfectly. Seriously, Guy Kozowyk is one of those vocalists that you know right when you hear him, like Mikael Akerfeldt or Corpsegrinder.

Though I hate to put a damper on the party, this album isn't perfect: there's a bit of filler in here. Songs like "Ingest the Ash" or "The Ugliest Truth" don't even come close to career highs like "Hour of Rats" or "Mouthful of Precious Stones". Still, the vast majority of material here is amazing.

Though this isn't the band's best (that title would go to either Prey for Eyes or Fused Together in Revolving Doors), it is still absolutely fantastic. It doesn't let the chaotic, manic energy that was running through their previous albums stand out quite as much, but they have channeled the energy into a more focused, aural assault. This is one of the best albums of the year, standing right beside Crack the Skye and Blood Oath.

As a word of warning to death metal bands everywhere, you should never make your second album a masterpiece that blurs genre lines and leaves critics and fans alike simultaneously scratching and banging their heads. It just makes it that much harder to get the accolades you deserve when your later releases don't live up to your own high water mark.

Such might be the case with The Red Chord, whose 2005 record, Clients, found a balance between old-school technical death metal, the then-just emerging deathcore sound, and moments of sheer melodic beauty. They shoved these influences into what were actual songs, not just parts put next to one another. So when Prey for Eyes was released in 2007 and wasn't one of the best albums of all time, it was a bit of a disappointment. Sure, there were great tracks like "Dread Prevailed" and "Bone Needle", but the effort as a whole fell short of the standard set by Clients.

The brand-new Fed Through the Teeth Machine surpasses its predecessor in terms of consistency and memorability, but still falls shy of 2005's slab of gold. But that shouldn't matter, and the more I realize that, the more I come to like the new record. "Hour of Rats" might be the best song the band has ever recorded, and the entire album has a very cohesive sense of vision about it. There's a sense of subtlety that even Clients tended to lack, and the result is a very enjoyable and easily stomached listening experience.

The Red Chord have always had certain songs on their records that fulfill a certain archetype, but it's been a slap in the face sometimes how obvious that was. The title track from Clients and "Film Critiques and Militia Men" were straightforward, short, heavy songs. So is "Demoralizer", but it's less obvious that that's what's going on. Similarly, unlike the huge, melodic epics "He Was Dead When I Got There" and "Seminar" from previous releases, "Mouthful of Precious Stones" and "Sleepless Nights in the Compound" are sneakier and more clever in their delivery of the massive goods.

Lots of factors contribute to why this might be the best record the Red Chord will ever make not entitled Clients, and it would be in your best interest as a listener to check it out with an open mind.