| Reviews for The Red Chord's Fed Through the Teeth Machine |
| Why did I just approve of the guys NOW? - 82% |
| Written by Sigillum_Dei_Ameth
on November 1st, 2009
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| 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: Fed Through the Teeth Machine - 90% |
| Written by BrutaLeviathan
on October 31st, 2009
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| 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. |
| Different shit with the same stink - 81% |
| Written by DethMaiden
on October 30th, 2009
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| 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. |