THE RED SHORE: The Avarice of Man

Produced by Roman Koester

Released: September 2010

It's hard to imagine a band that's been through more in the last few years than The Red Shore. Yet if ever there has been an example of getting stronger through tragedy and turmoil, then this band is it, and here is proof. If extreme metal is any kind of catharsis, The Avarice of Man is the ultimate therapy for the pain some of these guys have suffered.

This band is virtually unrecognisable as the group that unleashed "Salvaging What's Left" and even Unconsecrated. With Chase Butler taking over the vocal reins from the tormented Jamie Hope, all remnants of their deathcore past have been finally stripped away and in its place is a fearsome, brutal and ugly technical death metal monster which now edges close to some kind of unrelenting cross between Morbid Angel and Decapitated. The mix (courtesy of Jacob from Textures) evokes a horrible sense of unease as, quite apart from many of their contemporaries, The Red Shore has gone for a distinctly murky sound on The Avarice of Man. It might take a couple of listens for some ears to penetrate the sludgy guitars and Butler's concrete larynx, but when they do they will discover a crushing album with some inventive tech-death riffs and occasional Morbid Angel-like moments where the guitars are like slabs rising from some rank and primordial ooze. Butler's cerebral lyrics might be lost through his dense, somewhat monotonous growl but the claustrophobic atmosphere is perfect for the apocalyptic concept of humanity's violent destruction that is weaved throughout.

True hooks are few and far between, as this is not an album that sweeps you along with catchy groove after groove. Instead, it is a raging torrent of blast beats and ever-changing technical riffs, broken up now and again by old-school Suffocation-style breakdowns that have taken the place of the hardcore slam sections from earlier work. "The Approaching Tempest" is appropriately named, exploding with a hailstorm of ferocity that leads to the twisted complexity and savagery of the title track. Indeed, the five tracks preceding the grinding interlude "The Union" are tableaux of epic death metal violence that are second to none. The others are nothing to be sneezed at either because with The Avarice of Man, The Red Shore has delivered a masterful slab of extreme technical brutality that stands alongside the best on the world stage.
 
1. Creation
2. The Seed of Annihilation
3. Human, All too Human
4.The Approaching Tempest
5. The Avarice of Man
6. Of First and Last Things
7. Armies of Damnation
8. Inflict De-creation
9. The Union
10. And It’s Own
11. Awakening
12. Reduced to Ruin
13. The Relapse of Humanity

Rating: 95%

THE RED SHORE: Lost Verses

Produced by Roman Koester

Released: May 2009

The Red Shore has moved in leaps and bounds in the past two years. Each of their releases has displayed a solid progression in technique and direction, and anyone who still wants to brand these guys as deathcore pretenders after hearing this album needs to take a good hard look at themselves.

Lost Verses is a collection of early tracks, re-recorded and reworked into the band’s current style, and that’s very much a modern technical death metal assault ablaze with razor-sharp guitars, mountains of groove and booming and pummelling drums. Even in their formative metalcore phase, The Red Shore always had something extra to offer, and here they add snatches of black metal-style keyboard melodies and tremolo picking to take their music into a new dimension. Unlike a lot of other current bands going for a technical approach, The Red Shore don’t try to step all over each other or fill every space with a sweep. Instead, they just get down to the business of brutality.

“The Valentine’s Day Massacre” opens the album with a keyboard surge and grim shriek worthy of Emperor before ripping atoms apart with death metal guitar violence. “Effigy of Death” and “Flesh Couture” – previously only ever played live – are immense slabs of head-pounding brutal force and on album stand-out “Knives and Wolves” they unload a loose, catchy moshpit groove that’s impossible to resist.

Guitarist Roman Koester’s production allows his band’s music room to breathe, giving the Lost Verses a vitality and immediacy a lot of current death metal lacks. The drums are huge, the guitars are ferocious and heavy and Jamie Hope’s diverse vocal onslaught is an impressive array of barks, shrieks, growls and roars that would rival those of Trevor Strnad from The Black Dahlia Murder. This is a bold statement in metal brutality from a band still yet to peak. Awesome.

1. The Valentine's Day Massacre
2. Sink or Swim
3. Flesh Couture
4. Knives and Wolves
5. Pulling Teeth
6. Effigy of Death
7. I Only Smile When You're Bleeding
8. Thy Devourer
9. When Doesn't Kill You

Rating: 90%