Album Review: The Red Shore

‘A new age of repair, hesitation will not be rewarded, we must trample the weak,’ screams vocalist Jamie Hope. From the outset, The Red Shore’s first full-length offering is as faced-paced as it is brutally sincere.

In a time where metal is spawning more sub-genres than it is bands The Red Shore play music that is both technical and aurally intense. Forget the protestations from the tight jean wearing myspace kid who wants a hardcore band to have breakdowns every fifteen seconds…this album is not an exercise in conformity but rather the result of carefully crafted musical composition.

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Produced by guitarist Roman Koester, whose previous producing credits include Deez Nuts and In Name and Blood, Unconsecrated is a composite of heavy riffs, brutal blast beats and technical guitar sweeps.

Whilst Job for a Cowboy and Cannibal Corpse riffs seem to be the flavour of the month at the moment, replacing the pre-existing At the Gates and Soilwork ‘Gothenburg’ influences, The Red Shore proves that individuality is still possible in heavy music.

Led from the front by bass player turned singer Jamie Hope, the vocals are aggressive and aligned with the same scream/growl dynamic of a Trevor Strnad (The Black Dahlia Murder). Concurrently, Koester and Leombruni work in tandem to deliver guitar riffs that are as heavy as they are unrelenting.

Drummer Jake Green’s performance is reminiscent of fellow death metal contemporaries Kollias and Roddy. Tight blast beats juxtaposed with solid double kick work.

Whilst tracks such as ‘The Garden of Impurity’ and ‘Deception: Prologue’ drive home the malevolence of a Hate Eternal. Songs like ‘The Architects of Repulsion’ (which features guest vocals from Eddie Hermida, Karl Schubach, Brandan Schieppati and Dan Weyandt) and ‘Misery Hymn’ highlight the guttural sensibilities prevalent in any Job for a Cowboy release.

Moreover, there is a touch of subtle patriotism evident in this release. That is to say, produced in Australia – performed by Australians… With prominent Australian acts pulling the curtain down on their careers of late (i.e. I Killed the Prom Queen & The Getaway Plan), perhaps it will be The Red Shore who picks up the crown.

With the tragic events that this band has had to endure over the past eighteen months, Unconsecrated is well and truly vindication that hard work pays off. Make no mistake; this is not another scene-core album but rather proof that metal still has a beating pulse.