Unconsecrated

A lot of people when they think of how wild and technical guitarists can get with deathcore, most people will probably think of either Rings of Saturn or Infant Annihilator. Sure both bands are good in their own right, but when it comes to Australia's very own The Red Shore, these guys were absolutely and without a doubt ahead of their time. The Red Shore is probably one of the most criminally underrated deathcore bands and it's almost surprising considering they were signed to one of the biggest modern metal and rock labels of the early 2000's, that being Rise Records. Rise signing this band was definitely no mistake, and to this day Unconsecrated is probably the HEAVIEST release to come out on the label if you're counting the DVD re-release.

The sound of this album is unlike anything to come out at the time. The technical guitar work employed by Roman Koester does not let up throughout the entire album. Right from the start on the track The Garden of Impurity you're hit in the face with these Decapitated style technical leads that don't let up throughout the song apart from the slight breakdown halfway through. Stuff like this comes up a lot as a matter of fact. This album SCREAMS early Decapitated, but with a few breakdowns here and there. The next song as well right off the bat has a breakdown that has little peppering's of technical noodling that transition into another breakdown of it's caliber but with less technical noodling and continues for the rest of the track. It's absolutely pummeling and still keeps the writing interesting, especially after the solo.

This does kind of make the album feel less deathcore overall though. It's clear that they very much enjoy standard and technical forms of death metal as opposed to deathcore, because save for Misery Hymn the breakdowns are very few and far between and instead you're getting nothing but riffs upon riffs upon riffs. The smash hit of this album "Vehemence the Phoenix" is one of the best examples of this. Barely a breakdown and all you get are gnarly ass riffs. Absolutely WILD considering this song got a music video posted to Rise Records' own YouTube channel.

Jamie Hope of I Killed The Prom Queen fame was an absolute beast on this record when it came to vocal ability. You'll probably never hear him get this good again because his album with Prom Queen is very rough vocally. His lows are crushing and brutal and definitely more death metal leaning considering he was a scene kid when this album was released. His highs are definitely more in the deathcore stylings, but it's definitely awesome to hear such a contrast like this for a record of it's caliber.

The production and everything overall is top notch. Like I said, this album is extremely reminiscent of early Decapitated and the production is definitely of note when it comes to that comparison. It's raw, it's not overproduced to high heaven, and it just absolutely crushes. I really have no gripes with this record as a whole because it's just some solid ass technical death metal with a few breakdowns here and there. Could get slightly repetitive sure, but it's overall just such a hard hitting listen from front to back.

Absolutely no mercy! What an incredible album!

Final score: 99/100