MPFW

Red Sky were a good band who never achieved the acclaim they deserved. They made two albums, their debut ("Knife Behind the Smile") and this one ("MPFW"). Their debut was great, a maelstrom of ramshackle, confusing glory. This second album is as dull as a ditch. It is a sleek exercise in oblivion and little else. This is another one on the long list of metal records that shows a band improving technically, but losing their magic in the process. Records like this always make me feel empty inside. I find it difficult to describe my distaste for it, but it doesn't connect with me on any level (and I have owned it on CD ever since it came out).

These guys didn't become a bad band overnight. At first glance, they use a similar formula to the one they used on "Knife Behind the Smile". The band grew more technical and precise in the interim. The death metal elements became more obvious; the imprints of Morbid Angel and Deicide are everywhere on this album (listen to the beginning of "Forever Staring at the Sun", for instance). There are fewer metalcore and NYHC elements than there were on the debut. I can spot a slight grindcore influence though. The speed and tightness reminds me of other 'grindcore-ish' records from the era, like Cephalic Carnage and Luddite Clone (and other assorted Relapse bands). I never enjoyed listening to these bands much.

The songs have none of the character and unpredictability of those on the debut. There is a curious lack of 'vibe'. There are fewer of those haunting Slayer-esque melodies than before, and a near-absence of hooks. The thing I find most disappointing is the linearity and lack of genre-hopping. "MPFW" is smooth and slick, but it lacks the uninhibited ambiguity of the debut (which crossed from death metal to thrash to NYHC and back, without a care in the world). Sure, Red Sky still sounds extreme and the drumming still pounds, but the overall effect is shot to pieces. This just sounds like any other death metal record from the late nineties. The riffs are technical and athletic, but you’re much better served with bands like Seance and Ripping Corpse if you want that kind of thing.

“MPFW” is one of those records that makes me feel lethargic. It sounds OK after a cursory listen but there is little beyond the surface. I can’t hear any menace here, any purpose, or any direction. It resembles a melee of extreme sounds that come and go. It sounds like Red Sky painted themselves into a corner and forgot how to make fun songs. There are no reasons to listen to this album when you could be listening to "Knife Behind the Smile" instead, which I suggest you do.