Fed Through the Teeth Machine

“Demoralizer” starts off the album in typical fashion by beating you over the head relentlessly with a metaphorical blunt object. Follower “Hour of the Rats” continues the tradition, allowing for a very tasty and well played solo by guitarist Mike “Gunface” McKenzie. “Tales of Martyrs and Disappearing Acts” contains some very slow chugs and an even tempo throughout, giving one time bang their head. This is more or less the formula the band follows throughout the rest of the album, varying between beat down chugging, fast paced death/grind, noisy atmospherics and well executed solos. Everything sounds incredibly tight, no doubt due the streamlining of the lineup to a four rather than a five piece. One thing is for certain, McKenzie is an absolute shredder and holds his own in a genre where being a one guitarist band is an oddity. “Mouthful of Precious Stones” and closer “Sleepless Nights in the Compound” both extend beyond the four minute mark, which is epic by The Red Chord’s standards, with the former containing another well executed, if brief solo.

Fed Through the Teeth Machine is an excellent album that will cement The Red Chord in veteran status among death/grind circles. The Red Chord expand just enough in their song writing to not run into “beating a dead horse” syndrome, but still retain their trademark aggression. This is not a neutered Red Chord by any means, even with the addition of slower passages and melodic solos. However, the album does descend into “been there, done that” during the middle, not matter how vitriolic it may be. This is, like a lot of other albums from well established bands that have been released this year, an excellent example of why the Red Chord matter and are where they are, but isn’t pushing them into new and uncharted territories. Thankfully, it’s still one hell of a time and there’s just enough freshness to give it that “new band smell.”

-Dan

The Red Chord are back, and back to their brutal best with their 4th release and this time they are a four piece after dropping the second guitarist. The grindcore troop have gone through many line up changes in their history but continue to produce genre defining music. Fed to the teeth machine, their fourth album was also self-produced and was release on the 27th of october, this review coming later due to computer malfunctions among other things, and the album is a testament to the bands durability and undeniable talent

‘Fed to the teeth machine’ is a mixture of machine gun blast beats, crisp intense vocals and searing guitar work. The red chord have again delivered undefinable metal riffage, with the pace and technicality of a math-core band and the heaviness of a death metal band with a genre where it can be easy to accuse the songs of sounding the same, or just being one continual blast beat. The red chord have managed to create musical arrangements that sound essentially distinctive while still leaving you feeling like your ear drums have been bleeding for the past 38 minutes

Stand out tracks on the album for me are ‘Mouthful of Precious stones’ , which from the tracks lyrics the album takes its name. the song feature an epic guitar solo from Mike ‘Gunface’ McKenzie. other tracks to listen out for are the opener ‘Demoralizer’ and the Ender ‘Sleeplessness in the compound’ which ends on a dark melodic guitar part reflecting the beginning of the album before the audible assault began, completing the work well

A surprisingly innovative and interesting grindcore album from one  of the great of the genre

3.5/5

Full disclosure

listen to ‘demoralizer’ here The Red Chord Myspace

Axe to Fall is Converge's seventh studio album and their best

PREVIEW: DOWNLOAD Converge’s “Axe to Fall” MP3
WE GIVE IT: 19/20 Watts

In heavy music, there are only a handful of bands that constantly push their own boundaries and strive to be as forward thinking as possible. For those familiar with hardcore or metal, Converge is obviously one of these bands. Axe to Fall, the seventh studio album from this innovative group, is a reminder that no one fuses aggression and experimentation better than Converge.

Even with fourteen (yes, fourteen) guest musicians lending their talents to Axe To Fall, no other record from the band’s repertoire has ever been able to capture the energy of the core members more accurately than this album. It is truly astonishing how organic the collaborations sound.

Opening track, “Dark Horse,” features a galloping drumbeat and a melodic guitar lead that will certainly take long-time fans by surprise. It isn’t as chaotic as “Concubine” from Jane Doe or “Heartache” from No Heroes, but it is a superbly written song and will likely become an anthem at future live shows. “Axe to Fall,” the title track, is probably the most in-your-face song that Converge has ever written, featuring mind-numbing drum fills, super-technical shredding and a breakdown that could induce anyone to throw down in the pit.

Axe to Fall is a wild ride. Each track is a unique yet equally powerful experience. Perhaps the most unconventional additions to the Converge catalog are “Cruel Bloom” and “Wretched World.” “Cruel Bloom” showcases Steve Von Till’s (Neurosis) haunting voice over a backing choir, soft percussion, piano and acoustic/electric guitar. It’s a beautiful song with a jolting climax that Kurt Ballou commands with a doomy chord progression.

“Wretched World,” the closer, easily rivals “Jane Doe” with its epic quality. Featuring all of Genghis Tron and the drummers of Cave In and The Red Chord, respectively, these seven minutes and eleven seconds are literally impossible to describe with words.

It is possible, however, to realize how integral Converge remain to underground music. The release of Axe to Fall only solidifies this fact and brings the decade to a close with a musical triumph.

– Jeremy Garber

We recently reviewed The Red Chord and The Destro’s new albums. What do you have to do? Take pictures of you and your friends and email us a picture. The most creative, spooky, evil or just plains stupid outfit will win the The Red Chord album. We will compile the pics into our flickr account and share as a widget here on HTPB.

Not dressing up? You can still win and enter for free to win the The Destro album. How cool is that? Where else will you get free shit just for emailing us?

We will announce the winners on Halloween morning! We look forward to seeing your insane outfits. Have fun!

NOTE: Entering the contest automatically enters you into the Metalblade Records & HitThePitBlog Newsletters. But fear not, neither of us spam. Metal blade will tell you whats cool, new different while we will send you two updates a month and will have plenty of chances to win some free swag.

Artist: The Red Chord
Album: Fed Through The Teeth Machine
Label: Metalblade
Website: http://www.myspace.com/theredchord

The Red Chord is part of a long legacy of great bands to rise to prominence out of Massachusetts. In the early 2000’s bands like Killswitch Engage, Unearth and Shadows Fall led an vibrant and creative metal, thrash and hardcore scene within the Commonwealth. The Red Chord made their mark in the hardcore arena to begin, but have since evolved into a bruising death metal band with melodic interludes and all business! Or should I say, they are all bloodshed?

At first blush, “Fed Through The Teeth Machine” could come across as another death metal band pumping out blast beats and layering in vicious vocals. But after several listens I have started to appreciate the envelope they are pushing. For example, 3/4^ths of the way through “Demoralizer” they give the listener an evil melody that fits in perfectly and reminds me a bit of All That Remains with a powerful death metal flare. During “Hymns And Crippled Anthems” there is a dirge where the band slows down the gunfire fest in favor of twinkling string work that slides in nicely. It is a welcomed interlude from the smash mouth, pile driving the listener is assaulted with during 95% of the record.

Let’s be honest, Death Metal is an acquired taste. I like Dying Fetus and Napalm Death, but what is really needed is a band with a big set of nards to push the sounds envelope while keeping it death. The Red Chord has introduced just enough dynamic elements keep it interesting and different, yet appeases the hardcore listeners. “Fed Through The Teeth Machine” is a 2009 Death Metal album. I tend to think they feel like the past is the past, so why not look to the future. I like what I am hearing if the future is in fact- now!

Rating: 8 out of 10, warfare, gore and melody?
Suggested Tracks: “Demoralizer”, “Ingest The Ash”, “One Robot To Another”

Track Listing:

01. Demoralizer
02. Hour Of Rats
03. Hymns And Crippled Anthems
04. Embarrassment Legacy
05. Tales Of Martyrs And Disappearing Acts
06. Floating Through The Vein
07. Ingest The Ash
08. One Robot To Another
09. Mouthful Of Precious Stones
10. The Ugliest Truth
11. Face Area Solution
12. Sleepless Nights In The Compound

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Little late for a post but Boston, MA The Red Chord have posted a new track from their forthcoming album, Fed Through the Teeth Machine. The track is called “Demoralizer” and you can listen to it here. You can also go out and purchase Fed Through the Teeth Machine on October 27th, which based off “Demoralizer” should be well worth your hard earned cash.

-Dan

P.S. Here’s the artwork for the new one, in smallish format.

Tasty

The funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time. Greg Weeks of The Red Chord goes undercover at the Maryland Death Fest to get the fans to explain to him what Metal is all about.

Guy from The Red Chord, shits on everyone

Lange habe ich hier nichts mehr geschrieben. Darum nun mal zwei interessante Konzert-Ankündigungen:

[26.07.2009] WALLS OF JERICHO & THE RED CHORD

Support:
LAVATCH
SHAKE THE PAGODA TREE
BLACK THOUGHTS BLEEDING
im Musikbunker Aachen – http://www.musikbunker-aachen.de/
Einlass: 19.00 Uhr
Beginn: 19.30 Uhr
Tickets: VK 14,- (+ Geb.) / http://www.ticketmaster.de

http://www.musikbunker-aachen.de/musikbunker/de/pages/veranstaltungen/konzerte.php#260709
http://www.myspace.com/wallsofjericho (Metalcore)
http://www.myspace.com/theredchord (Deathcore)
http://www.myspace.com/lavatch (Hardcore)
http://www.myspace.com/shakethepagodatree (Deathcore)
http://www.myspace.com/blackthoughtsbleeding (Metalcore)

[12.08.2009] THE CREEPSHOW & NIM VIND

im Musikbunker Aachen – http://www.musikbunker-aachen.de/
http://www.myspace.com/nimvind (Horror-Punk)
www.myspace.com/thecreepshow (Psychobilly)

A tavalyi fesztivál folytatása újabb zenekarokkal bővült, örömmel jelentjük be, hogy teljes az est felállása. Két régi ismerős amerikai zenekart köszönthetünk a fesztiválon, egyikőjük sem szorul bemutatásra. Fogadjátok szeretettel a detroiti Walls Of Jericho-t és a bostoni The Red Chord-ot. A hírt megünneplendő, a speciális, 4000 forintos jegy még egy hétig, május 26-ig kapható a Casual Street Wear boltban, illetve a Ticketportal.hu hálózatában!

So, yesterday, I sat in three hours of traffic to go a grand total of two and a half miles. It was miserable, not just the not moving but the hot, humid air that would be better reserved for August and not April, and the fact I was dressed for a party and not for a comfortable afternoon lounging. Normally, when people are frustrated and flustered they turn to something mellow and calming. However, me, I opt for the opposite in my traffic triage. Hence this semi-obnoxious alienation of anything even remotely calming to the normal person.

Blood Has Been Shed “Wetwork” from Novella of Uriel
Between the Buried And Me “Alaska” from Alaska
Despised Icon “Bulletproof Scales” from the Healing Process
All.Shall.Perish “Eradication” from the Price of Existence
Cryptopsy “Adeste Infidelis” from Once Was Not
Cephalic Carnage “Heptarchy” from Xenosapien
the Red Chord “Black Santa” from Clients
Origin “the Aftermath” from Antithesis
Into the Moat “Empty Shell” from the Design
the Number Twelve Looks Like You “Like a Cat” from Nuclear. Sad. Nuclear.
Fear Before the March of Flames “You’ll Meet Your Fate in the Styx” from Art Damage
the Dillinger Escape Plan “43% Burnt” from Calculating Infinity
Norma Jean “Bayonetwork” from O God, The Aftermath
Converge “the Saddest Day” from Petitioning the Empty Sky
the Esoteric “Ram Faced Boy” from With the With the Sureness of Sleepwalking
Breather Resist “Keep ‘em in Stitches” from Charmer
Cave In “Cross Bearer” from Beyond Hypothermia

Need more listening, try a Zune 120 GB Video MP3 Player

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death.black.grind.metal.hardcore.whatever

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For the love of God guys, please buy your damn music!!!  For any fan of metal music, just buy it.  When you download instead of buy, you are killing the industry, killing the genre and killing bands.

How is it that bands like The Red Chord, Devildriver, A Life Once Lost etc have millions of hits on their myspace pages but can’t break 20,000 copies sold? DOWNLOADING, there are so many amazing bands that  slug it out in vans, not even buses, vans, have to tour for a year straight just to break even on the record they made for YOU!

I’m just tired of seeing bands struggle and break-up because kids can’t part with $15.  So please, these aren’t wealthy people who you’re stealing from, these are guys that barely make a living doing what they love, which is making metal us to enjoy.  So please, go to shows, buy merch and buy the album, you will see the metal seen change in a good way as a result.