Track Listing
1. Lost control 2. Purging 3. Out for blood 4. Eclipse 5. Absent 6. Dogs Year: 2002 Label: Self Released - Official Site |
RiverRed - 'Demo' - By M. Freeman
North American's, RiverRed, are still a relatively unknown band, but by the evidence of this, their first demo offering, they are destined for great things. A point to note about the demo is that five of the six tracks are recorded live with the aid of no studio production. Full credit must be given to the band for this feat, and although the lack of mixing equipment does let the sound down on occasion, this is of course to be expected, with this in mind, this demo is a crunching achievement. It doesn't take much of first track 'Lost Control' to pass before a sound in a similar vein to which Prong used to power out is apparent. Beginning with a great guitar build up and branching out into a riff which strides on powerfully, and that is made better by the excellent drumming, there is a steady flow as the stacatto riff chugs along. The vocals can be forgiven for sounding a little shallow, but with the raging bassline that this track has, the band are onto a winner. Second track 'Purging' is even better than the first, the vocals are improved and even have a grunge feel about them that wouldn't seem out of place on some of Nirvana's more raw material. Midway through the tempo increases, the drums pummel away and the guitaring pounds on relentlessly in an ultra-catchy fashion. You need look no further than this to hear just how good this band are, and this is without the aid of a mixing studio. 'Out For Blood' begins with a silence which beckons to be broken, and is done by some supreme drum work which not only gives a great intro to the track, but also shows the bands capability to write music in different ways to tremendous effect. The infectious drums are present throughout and the rhythm comes to the forefront of the music every so often to maintain a perfect pace to batter out yet another very well rounded track. Once 'Eclipse' gets underway, you immediately realise that this is going to be another great track. This could be compared to the opening track, 'Lost Control', with it's funky bass trickery and all round memorable listening experience. There are some elements of punkiness in this track but it is still in-keeping with the bands sound which you will be realising by now is a sound to be proud of. The vocals suffer a little from the lack of enhanced production on 'Absent', but this is only a slight marr on a track which fits nicely between 'Eclipse' and the albums final offering. The contagious bassline and drumming both mix together well on this track and finish abruptly to make way for the final somg. The demo draws to a close with 'Dogs', the guitar rages on like a firey rampage, the vocals are improved still, and the overall composition is a sign of great things. The final track ends how you'd like it to, leaving you wanting more of the same. The whole album is infectious and this band are yet another reason to keep tabs on the underground music scene, because this is excellent. The bands unique sound, including hints of hardcore, grunge and hard punk thrown in is an excellent blend which will, with out a shadow of a doubt, prove to be a winning formula for RiverRed, and if not, justice has not been done. Here we have a demo, recorded by the band themselves, with no fine tuning or mixing equipment to give that polished sound, and yet it still sounds worthy of your average album cost. The sky is the limit for RiverRed, let's hope they get the deserved recognition. Metal Obsessive Grade: 84% |