Reviewed by Paul S Ganney

As subtle as a flying hammer, this absolutely enormous sound leaps from the speakers pausing to chew on them as it does so. It reminded me of Faith No More and POD in terms of the riffing, held vocals and solid drum and bass stuttering interplay. It's not all bludgeoning though - Red know how to layer a song and to arrange it so that it builds, drops, caresses and (yes) bludgeons all exactly when it ought to in order to get maximum effect. Even the string and piano work sits perfectly around the metal core ("From The Ashes" being a very good example). The acoustic work is also fine, but I think that the vocal on "Hemorrhage" misses the full band treatment, as it somewhat overpowers the setting. "The Evening Hate" was a phrase coined by World War I frontline trench soldiers as a nickname for the relentless enemy bombing and the title track concerns the deep-seeded loathing for another person that everyone has felt at some point - as they say: "Without hate, the world would never know what true love really is." A five-track EP, two of these tracks are alternative versions of others, which may not seem great value. However, the alternate "The Evening Hate" was so different to the first version it more than justified inclusion, bringing forth Evanescence comparisons - especially in the piano work. I'm not sure I'd have described the alternate version of "From The Ashes" as "acoustic" - more sparsely arranged, maybe, possibly even semi-orchestral but "acoustic" doesn't really describe this fully arranged behemoth. A nicely varied EP.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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