SPOTLIGHT-The Red Chord
Ever since I was fourteen and first heard System of a Down’s
B.Y.O.B. and subsequently started tuning in to Headbanger‘s Ball on MTV, I‘ve always had a great love for heavier music. Listening to a lot of the groups at this time, it was unlike anything I have ever heard before. The crushing brutality and earsplitting sounds seemed to fill a gap in my being that was missing and gave me something to vent out all sorts of frustrations during those high school years. While I may not be as largely of a metal fan today, I still hold much of this music close to my heart. So I’m going to take this spotlight right now to talk about one of my favorite heavy bands, The Red Chord.
Hailing from Revere, Massachusetts in the late 90s, The Red Chord is a band that takes the technical, calculated, and heavy side of death metal and matches it up with the sheer tearing ferocity of grindcore. This style is more commonly referred to as "deathcore", and TRC are considered one of its pioneering groups of this genre. I find these guys to be one of the better groups of this movement, as a number of other bands seem to not sound as strong or fall back on tired, overused tropes like breakdowns. While TRC does use similar techniques, it just seems more genuine in my opinion. Much of their music is crafted in a way where you could tell that they really meant to have every piece in the exact spot it is without feeling tacked on or cheesy. This is a group that really does their own thing, and they do it well.
Now, what i love about this band is just how all over the place they sound. While not a band that constantly switches genres ala Between the Buried and Me, these guys have their own special charm for mixing it up while not breaking the flow or letting up on the heavy. The guitars of Mike “Gunface” McKenzie combines meticulous, technical bits with grindcore sensibilities, creating a tight, yet messy and fast paced sound. The vocals by Guy Kozowyk have an instantly recognizable sound of a cross between a death metal veteran and a decades long cigarette smoker, which adds to the pain and gives a good feel when he delivers his biting and tongue in cheek lyrics. The drums of Mike Justain are both all over the place and consistent in adding to the fury and Greg Weeks‘ bass is the much needed bridge and stability to counter the frantic drums and guitar. These guys do what a lot of their contemporaries can’t and deliver hard hitting and crushing blows while at the same time having a less serious, almost silly feel at certain points, as a result of either the crazy lyrics or unpredictable guitar.
Much of their lyrical content focuses on insanity and the human condition. Their second release, Clients, is a prime example of this, with much of the album based on a relative of Kozowyk‘s experiences working for an adult development center, with much of the songs referring to real people. It covers mental problems like schizophrenia, multiple personality disorder, OCD, and including the title track, suggests that we all, in our own way, are “Clients”, or people who are in some way messed up mentally.
In the end, this is a band that I grew up listening to and one that helped to broaden my horizon of both metal and music in general. Listening to these guys over the years has really shown me what can be done musically and that you can still be a great musician without having to make more “traditional” styled songs. While there’s plenty of people these days who are very open minded about music but still detest anything heavy or rough, I’m glad that I went through this phase my life and saw what some of the limits of sound can bring, and I‘m glad that I had this band to help me see that.
but hell, what's one to know until you've actually heard them, right? take a listen to some of these songs and tell me what you think.