The Red Chord @ Barfly
Deafening, terrfying... perfect.
| 10 Jul 2007
Either it's too close to payday, or brutal jams aren't high on the agenda in Glasgow this week, as The Red Chord's return to Glasgow is downsized a venue from The Cathouse to the Barfly.
A hardy hundred or so still find their way, witnessing opening acts Madman is Absolute and From a 2nd Storey Window warm up with pounding double-kick drums plus a lardy bassist in hot pants and a scary Granddad mask. Situation normal, it would appear, for the twirling, high-kicking dance troupe on-hand.
Architects merge a flurry of breakneck heaviness and discordant bleeps, with passages of considered soft-metal, delivered well in the main, though with a tendency to resist connections with the audience; vocalist Matt Johnson often retreating behind his floppy hair.
The Red Chord have no such problems, consummately engaging the crowd from first to last with stage patter that is surprisingly affable when juxtaposed with the petrifying racket they are capable of stoking up. Technically they carry off the grinding brutality and foot-stomping hooks tighter and more effortlessly than the previous acts. Guy Kozowyk's vocals are like an extra overdrive channel: deafening, terrifying... perfect for this Massachusetts deathcore unit. [Jamie Borthwick]
A hardy hundred or so still find their way, witnessing opening acts Madman is Absolute and From a 2nd Storey Window warm up with pounding double-kick drums plus a lardy bassist in hot pants and a scary Granddad mask. Situation normal, it would appear, for the twirling, high-kicking dance troupe on-hand.
Architects merge a flurry of breakneck heaviness and discordant bleeps, with passages of considered soft-metal, delivered well in the main, though with a tendency to resist connections with the audience; vocalist Matt Johnson often retreating behind his floppy hair.
The Red Chord have no such problems, consummately engaging the crowd from first to last with stage patter that is surprisingly affable when juxtaposed with the petrifying racket they are capable of stoking up. Technically they carry off the grinding brutality and foot-stomping hooks tighter and more effortlessly than the previous acts. Guy Kozowyk's vocals are like an extra overdrive channel: deafening, terrifying... perfect for this Massachusetts deathcore unit. [Jamie Borthwick]