The Avarice of Man

If you're looking for a death metal album crafted merely from passion, pain and the desire just to write sick fucking music then look no further. Notice I said death metal too, not deathcore. Give this album a listen a bit and you'll notice the technical deathcore sound of the band's first releases is shed on this record in favor of a technical brutal death metal-sort of style. Much like Job for a Cowboy, this album is masterly designed stripping the away the breakdowns, the deathcore scream/growl vocals and the Suicide Silence-esque pinch harmonics & basic power chords and replacing all of the above with something that sounds more like Decrepit Birth/Suffocation worship with some of those mesmerizing leads that Nile likes to do sprinkled on top. This is some ideal brutal tech-death.

As many probably know, The Red Shore endured a really horrible bus accident in 2007 which left their vocalist and merchandise man behind. It's a real sad story and you can get all the details for it by watching the documentary on the band [originally on a DVD bonus disc for their last album, but it's on YouTube]. Anyway, as one pointed out previous, this album shows a sort of angry, frusterated progression of rising ahead of the worst times of your life and telling those hardships to go fuck itself. When The Red Shore went down, they just got back up and became heavier and more ferocious--probably not even a coincidence, although I'm not going to say I'm thankful they had to lose some of their best friends just to write a badass album because that's not what I'm getting at. This album contains the band's third vocalist; Chase Butler, their third drummer; Tim Shearman, and their second bassist; Jon Green—however it still retains the dynamic guitar duo of Ronan & Jase as seen on every album previous.

The first 3 songs are crushers, but unfortunately by the time the runtime reaches the middle the album tends to get a bit slower and a bit more atmospheric if you will. Also some of the band's half-life past of slow sort of breakdown-reminiscent moments slightly rear their head in these songs as well but they don't feel forced at all instead it actually feels so natural. I don't really consider this part of the album a fault though, it's just not what I personally enjoyed about it. I am quite aware the band would have to change up the style a bit for the different phases of the record in order to properly develop an hour-long opus, you can't just blast your shit to oblivion for an hour and expect to come out with a balanced work of art. Things start picking back up at 'Armies of Damnation' and man I never get sick of the riffs on that song nor the proceeding 'Inflict De-Creation'. The mathy-intro heard on the former all the way to the Origin-reminiscent riffs on the latter are a beauty to behold.

Following Inflict De-Creation is an interlude song, which is a trope that the album doesn't abuse thank God, cuz I hate interludes. Thankfully that interlude is kind of almost just like a short instrumental song in itself just with loud bass guitar so I definitely don't mind it. After that the rest of the album is generally executed just as well as you'd expect, HOWEVER, here is where I have to state that my least favorite song on the entire thing has definitely got to be the semi-final track titled 'Reduced to Ruin' solely because it has breakdowns :/ and lots of them. Lets face it, it's practically a deathcore song, but luckily it's the only one of its kind on an album of otherwise pure breakneck speed and brutality without much else slowing it down. At least they put this song near the end of the record instead of somewhere in the middle. After that 'The Release of Humanity' closes this whole son o' a bitch with a proper sendoff and that's all she wrote. End of the album.

Last things I want to say about The Avarice of Man is it's just so plain full of great songs and memorable moments, perfect for any fan of abrasive fast technical-stylized death metal. If you dislike deathcore it would be wise to just disregard this band's deathcore origin and pretend this is an album by a otherwise unheard of band as you put it in your ears. You'll be so thankful. I also should mention that some of the songs also have this cool trait of how they'll stop near the climaxes and then pick back up, always sounds so awesome and always gives me chills. If you never heard this album in the last decade it's been out, do yourself the favor now.

It's hard to imagine a band that's been through more tragedy than The Red Shore. Yet if ever there has been an example of getting stronger through tragedy and turmoil, then this band is it, and here is proof. If extreme metal is any kind of catharsis, The Avarice of Man is the ultimate therapy for the pain some of these guys have suffered.

This band is virtually unrecognisable as the group that unleashed "Salvaging What's Left" and even Unconsecrated. With Chase Butler taking over the vocal reins from the tormented Jamie Hope, all remnants of their deathcore past have been finally stripped away and in its place is a fearsome, brutal and ugly technical death metal monster which now edges close to some kind of unrelenting cross between Morbid Angel and Decapitated. The mix (courtesy of Jacob from Textures) evokes a horrible sense of unease as, quite apart from many of their contemporaries, The Red Shore has gone for a distinctly murky sound on The Avarice of Man. It might take a couple of listens for some ears to penetrate the sludgy guitars and Butler's concrete larynx, but when they do they will discover a crushing album with some inventive tech-death riffs and occasional Morbid Angel-like moments where the guitars are like slabs rising from some rank and primordial ooze. Butler's cerebral lyrics might be lost through his dense, somewhat monotonous growl but the claustrophobic atmosphere is perfect for the apocalyptic concept of humanity's violent destruction that is weaved throughout.

True hooks are few and far between, as this is not an album that sweeps you along with catchy groove after groove. Instead, it is a raging torrent of blast beats and ever-changing technical riffs, broken up now and again by old-school Suffocation-style breakdowns that have taken the place of the hardcore slam sections from earlier work. "The Approaching Tempest" is appropriately named, exploding with a hailstorm of ferocity that leads to the twisted complexity and savagery of the title track. Indeed, the five tracks preceding the grinding interlude "The Union" are tableaux of epic death metal violence that are second to none. The others are nothing to be sneezed at either because with The Avarice of Man, The Red Shore has delivered a masterful slab of extreme technical brutality that stands alongside the best on the world stage.

Originally written for www.loudmag.com.au

Review Originally published at http://www.teethofthedivine.com

After ripping my face off with 2009′s Unconsecrated Australia’s The Red Shore return with a new label, a new vocalist and a new drummer ― yet none of those changes stop The Avarice of Man being as completely devastating as the band’s debut.

Despite the fact the band will be lumped in with the current trend of bands blurring the line between technical death metal and deathcore―or dropping deathcore elements (As You Drown, Oceano, Annotations of an Autopsy)―The Red Shore, as with their debut, to these ears, display nothing short of pure brutality. Regardless of how you view them.

In my opinion, The Red Shore still have hints of Decapitated (if you don’t believe me, listen to the title track and “Awakening”) and Nile swirling and lurking amid their more modern, burly exterior, and appear to have even upped the complexity a little making the, at times oppressive heft, even more impressive.

And while some may feel the album’s often relentless pace blends a little too much, personally, the sheer bulldozing nature of the album leaves me breathless with adrenalin sapping ferocity. The total and pure domination of the album’s pace and gait is simply a testament to everything brutal, eschewing anything remotely trendy, scene based or even core leanings.

After the rather needless intro of “Creation”, “Seeds of Annihilation” sets the tone for the next 11 tracks (there is a brief respite for interlude “The Union”) of pure unadulterated sonic savagery. There are so many slabs of neck slapping, spine shattering complexity and monstrous, heaving girth, it can be pretty overwhelming. It’s not a clean, noodly, proggy complexity a la Decrepit Birth either (although “The First and Last Things” tries), but a much fiercer, steroid injected, direct and oppressively heavy sense of menacing intricacy, backed by a robust, bottom end delivery. Look no further than the likes of “The Approaching Tempest”, “Reduced to Ruin”, lumbering mid-section of “And Its Own”, undeniable standout “Inflict Decreation” and closer “The Relapse of Humanity” for total annihilation. Even if they seem somewhat interchangeable, the sonic force of the tracks will beat you into submission.

On the very slight downside, vocally, Chase Butler isn’t doing anything new or creative and I would not have been aware of vocalist change had I not read of it. There’s also some lyrical/thematic ambiguity as to whether the band is Christian or not (not that it matters to me, but it may to some). Whatever, as it doesn’t change the swathe that The Red Shore‘s The Avarice of Man leaves in its wake as one of 2010′s most relentless albums.

The Red Shore, the aussie band who have been bringing us beefy deathcore brutality since Unconcerated, have at last evolved into the death metal range of playing for their third full-length, The Avarice of Man. Much like their predecessors The Faceless, Job for a Cowboy, Annotations of an Autopsy, and even Carnifex, The Red Shore have dropped many of the elements that made them deathcore to explore a darker, more devastating side.

The album starts off with a slightly annoying intro, (annoying as in disappointing as fuck), that moves into the first real song "The Seed of Annihilation". This song didn't really impress me that much, as it's riffs don't compare to the rest of the album. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad song, it's just not exactly the best on the album. This shows a more technical death metal side to The Red Shore, removing nearly all high-scream vocals, and replacing breakdowns with entertaining as fuck tech death riffs.

The great thing about the heavier moments in the album is the fact that most of them have a very distinctive Morbid Angel/Immolation edge to them. Being a fan of satanic/sludgy death metal, this fact gives me that much more of a reason to love the album. Also, don't get me wrong on this, there ARE in fact breakdowns on the album, but none of the "chug-chug-chugchugchug-chug-chug" that is so popular with modern metal bands. They're more of the death metal breakdowns you'd hear from Suffocation, Morbid Angel, and Cryptopsy.

Highlights: "The Approaching Tempest", "The Avarice of Man", "Inflict De-Creation", "Reduced to Ruin", and "The Relapse of Humanity". This album gets a well deserved 93%. When they make another album, it's already safe to say it'll fucking kick ass. Hails to The Red Shore.