THE RED CHORD – “Fed Through the Teeth Machine”

1:0 for intelligent song writing

Now having only one guitarist, The Red Chord didn’t hesitate to announce that their new album will be more-direct sounding than “Prey for Eyes”. This might have led some people to worry that the band might end up offering something way simpler and less interesting, but there is no need for such thoughts in this case.

Yes, “Fed Through the Teeth Machine” is somewhat of a return to the more direct and brutal sound of the band’s earlier stuff and a departure from the direction taken with the more melodic songs in the previous one. The difference though, is that if back then the melodic elements were put in separate songs that kind of stood out weirdly among all the heavy songs, now this element of the music is featured in all the compositions, where its place was to begin with.

From the opening of “Demoralizer”, which is the sonic equivalent of being attacked by a pack of wolves from an ambush while all alone in the forest, the album’s energy doesn’t let go until its final note. Of course this is no mediocre attempt at extreme metal but an intelligent and multi-layered album with songs like “Hour of Rats” that show all kinds of influences joined together in one united entity. If they want to crush you, The Red Chord are able to do it with slower songs like “Embarrassment Legacy” as well.

The band takes turns using death metal brutalisms and psychedelic moments with outright progressive ideas. One moment they are cutting your head off with a brutal blast beat, the next an awesome solo pops out. And having one guitarist less this time around has not had a negative effect on the music and not made it one-dimensional. And in the mix of super-technical and fast death metal drumming, there are also some more classic sounding fills that add to the album’s signature sound.

This is not just a good deathcore album, but extreme music with a message that could hold its own in a dick measuring contest with some of today’s biggest death metal bands. And if you like brutal stuff with ideas, “Fed Through the Teeth Machine” definitely has its place on the list of things you have to hear this year.

Verdict: 5.25 / 6