I knew of Red and have listened through a couple of albums on Spotify, but for reasons unknown it didn’t stick with me. May have been my mood at the time. With that, I am starting as a relative newbie to the band although they are just shy of 1 million monthly listeners on Spotify. They must be doing something folks like. That fact and knowing that their previous album, “Declaration,” was very well received, piqued my interest in reviewing the salaciously titled “Rated R.”
Red was formed in 2002 among childhood friends Michael Barnes and identical twins Anthony and Randy Armstrong in Nashville, Tennessee. Musically influenced by some of the bigger nu-metal and hard rock bands at the time like Linkin Park, Sevendust, and Chevelle, they embraced an emotionally driven musical direction. After the typical struggle of fledgling bands, they released their debut album “End of Silence” years later in 2006. Since then they have released seven other albums, winning six GMA Dove Awards and Grammy nominations for their musical releases. Musically, they have stayed in the hard rock realm but make incremental adjustments to their sound over the years. The founding trio are still the epicenter for this group with the drum seat being perennially vacated. Brian Medeiros began as official Red drummer in 2023 having been a previous tour drummer for the band.
“Rated R” demonstrates Red‘s continued musical maturation while still being true to their hard rock roots. It took me a few listens to get my bearings, but the key is the emotional side of music more than the technical. The ebb and flow within the songs is continuous rather than the terraced breakdown build ups of metalcore bands. The sonic palette is quite adventurous with the use of strings and electronica in the mix making it hard to catch everything over its rather short 34 minute runtime. But one listen will be the seed for it to grow on subsequent listens.
Doing the math leads us to an average song length of around 3 minutes and 23 seconds, which can go by quite quickly. Given that they make use of intros to set the stage and outros to resolve the emotions, this leaves less time for the meat of the songs. Red does not play around with unnecessary repetition where songs are roller coasters flowing from one section to the next. The instrumental foundation is guitars, bass and drums with electronic patterns, synths, and strings to provide additional depth to the songs. The album has an industrial feel similar to Linkin Park. Album length was a struggle for me because there is so much packed making it hard to get a good feel for the album until around the fifth listen.
Michael’s vocals are quite diverse on the album. The album opener, “Surrogates,” has a metalcore vibe where Michael transitions between harsh screaming and subdued clean melody in the chorus reminding me of Demon Hunter‘s Ryan Clark. “Your Devil is a Ghost” showcases his range and delivery of a strong melodic hook. “Cold World” and “Our Time Will Come” are two other songs where Michael’s singing shines through. On the other hand, I found the slurring vocals in “Last Forever” quite distracting.
The electronic elements sprinkled throughout give this album character. We get a taste of synth in the beginning of “Surrogates” but industrial elements come into full bloom with “Minus it All” with the use of electronic drums and other synth support. “Tell Me How to Say Goodbye” is a great song that starts off the first verse with a pop electronic beat that fits in really well. “Still Bleeding” has this creepy horror/haunted house feel through the use of organ and other synths. Throughout the album, there is extensive use of strings as a lead instrument and helps create a softer atmosphere at times and contrast to the heavier music at other times.
The rhythm work by the brothers Armstrong on guitars and Brian’s drums were quite solid and laid a great foundation for the more electronic/synth ear candy. “Cold World” juxtaposes heavy riffs and rhythm work with clean legato singing by Michael. I like the swirling type riffs and Brian’s drums really come through showing that he was a great pick for the drumming seat. I particularly liked the dissonant guitar accents on “The Suffering” and the drums do a great job congealing the band on “Our Time Will Come.”
All in all, I think that this is a solid album by one of the long-running popular Christian bands from the US. There is a lot of interesting musical elements and depth to the instrumentation that will not get unpacked in its short 34 minutes, which actually is easier to fit in a listen than an hour plus opus. I recommend for fans of the late 90s/early 00s hard rock scene or if you have a taste for metalcore.
PS – Apparently they released a short film that accompanies the album. It has a western feel which is not what I got from listening to the album. If you like the band and their other creative work, be sure to check it out here.
Rating: 8.5/10
Written by Sean Bailey
Tracklist
1 – Surrogates
2 – Your Devil is a Ghost
3 – Minus It All
4 – Cold World
5 – Tell Me How To Say Goodbye
6 – The Suffering
7 – Still Bleeding
8 – Our Time Will Come
9 – Last Forever
10 – Emergency
Red is:
Michael Barnes – lead vocals
Anthony Armstrong – guitars, backing vocals
Randy Armstrong – bass, backing vocals
Brian Medeiros – drums
Release Date: September 29, 2023
Record Label: Red Entertainment/The Fuel Music
Discography:
End of Silence (2006)
Innocence & Instinct (2009)
Until We Have Faces (2011)
Release the Panic (2013) [review]
Of Beauty and Rage (2015) [review]
Gone (2017) [review]
Declaration (2020) [review]
Rated R (2023)
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Music Video for Surrogates
