Artist: The Red Chord
Label: Metal Blade Records
Release Date: 5/17/05
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Title: Clients Artist: The Red Chord Label: Metal Blade Records Release Date: 5/17/05 |
Judgment Committee Reviews | Rating |
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4 | ||
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5 | ||
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4 | ||
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Abyss's Review:
The Red Chord return with their debut for Metal Blade records with an album that will most likely open them up to a wider audience amongst the metalcore scene. While that might sound really scary to die-hard fans, its probably not as bad as you think, the band has simply focused their sound and songwriting. This far more professional and structured direction will most likely piss off a few of you out there, but in many ways it was a necessary step for the band. Fused Together In Revolving Doors was an amazing album in its own right, but a string of similar sounding efforts would get old really quick.
"One word review: Impressive." If I have a problem with Clients it's that I'm a little lost when it comes to appreciating the record as a whole. While the band is more focused with regard to songwriting and production, I still find myself wondering what theme this band is trying to get across. This band shifts between death metal and a more metalcore sound often, but without fluidity. It is for this reason that I find this album hit or miss. There is no doubt that when this record hits its stride, it smokes - as songs like "Upper Decker" and "Black Santa" are a testament to. That being said, I do find myself losing interest for significant parts of this record, largely because I feel many of the more chaotic parts drop out long before they get their point across.
Of course, when reviewing an album like this, one has to remember that, although they seem to have been around for awhile, this is still just the band's second album. When that is taken into consideration, it becomes obvious that the band has come out with a successful album and remains on the right track. Perhaps one of the most interesting tracks on the album, the amusingly titled "He Was Dead When I Got Here," is evidence enough that this band is more than your average metalcore band. That track is ambitious to say the least, sounding like an attempt to create an instrumental in the vein of "Orion" while using the guitar sounds from Down. The Red Chord are going places, come along for the ride. One word review: Impressive.
Death's Review:
I think I'm just about as burnt out on metalcore as you can get, and I expected more of the same here. But goddamn it if this is not one of the best albums to have come out in 2005. Brutal fucking riffage spews from every track, and the cool yet corny shout outs ("Tell the boss what's on your mind!") right before the killer mosh parts bring the fun along with the aggression in a manner that only the best old school thrash bands used to evoke. While not as technically intricate, I think it might not be too premature to start calling The Red Chord the new Lamb of God, the third generation Pantera. Clients is that good, and it really goes beyond metalcore and brings the focus back to good, plain meat and potatoes metal riffage, whatever they want to call it and however they want to market it. So for those of you who are of limited funds, and aren't looking for anything too arty but rather just want something to bang your head to and mosh around to all summer long, Clients would be an excellent choice. I'm not sure if it will make you as cool as the guy at the end of the album who felt up a nineteen-year-old, big-boobed blonde girl "over the bra," but let's be realistic - how could anyone really be cooler than that?
"Goddamn it if this is not one of the best albums to have come out in 2005."
Hel's Review:
Believe it or not, this is one of my personal most highly anticipated albums of this year. I was utterly blown away by Fused Together In Revolving Doors and have had ants in my pants at the mere thought of a new album. I have had the chance to see them live a few times over the past year, and my impression of the new material they presented in this setting was that while it was good, it was also less complex.
"Clients is an entertaining album." I’m the kind of person that likes their music to be as complex and convoluted as possible. The great thing about Fused Together was that despite the crazy complexity of the songs, they all made perfect sense. I found the new album lacked both the intricacy as well as the cohesiveness their last effort exhibited.
Clients is an entertaining album. But it is not the tour de force I was hoping for. Instead of sheer brilliance, I find an interesting record. While it is still good, it is simply not what I was hoping for. But at least it is not as lame as the end of the record, which features what is apparently a message left on their machine by a complete loser who is presumably their friend. I’m not sure I’d admit to knowing someone so ludicrous.
So in the end, while I enjoyed their last effort far more than this, it is still a respectable release. Perhaps if my expectations had been lower, I would be raving, instead of whining about not getting what I was hoping for. In any event, I’m still rooting for the Red Chord and encourage you all to check them out.
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