Album Reviews : The Red Chord – Fed Through The Teeth Machine

‘Fed Through the Teeth Machine’ is as fierce as the title suggests. It’s a non-stop onslaught of everything you’d expect, packed neatly into a small 35 minute package. Working with the fairly common combination of technical death metal, grind and a smidgen of ‘core, The Red Chord have pretty much perfected the balance so many bands are reaching for.

With the exception of a few very short slightly-atmospheric parts, you don’t get a break. Throughout the 12 short tracks are a fucking enormous number of riffs and musical tidbits, varying from insanely memorable to complete shite. More often than not, the head nods in approval. The guitar flows between melodic solos, slams, technical riffs, and everything else with not a worry in the world, which is made even more impressive by the fact there’s only one sole guitarist doing it. Although there are a few riffs, slams, and drum parts that are so utterly plain that they just shouldn’t be there. An album this full-on doesn’t need padding, but thankfully everything is short lived. Generally speaking, the segments on this album seem to be more dependent on the sum of their parts, rather than a particular instrument. Yes, like I said before, there are specific parts that either fall flat or stick in your head, but the way the different sounds work together tends to emphasise a whole sound. Definitely a positive.

Despite the album’s short length, I was bored by the end. My attention wandered, and I had to force myself to pay a bit more attention. But that’s not to say fans of this more technical area of death metal will find the same, it’s just not exactly one of my favourites styles. Comparatively speaking, this album kicks ass.

Like I said, the blend of genres is spot-on and the band jump between styles without it ever seeming too out-of-place. It’s haphazard without being awkward. And most of all, there are actually some damn memorable moments in the madness. If this is usually your style of music, this is worth a listen. 7/10

For fans of: Whitechapel, The Boy Will Drown, Ignominious Incarceration, Hiroshima Will Burn.

Band: The Red Chord
Album: Fed Through The Teeth Machine
Year: 2009
Genre: Technical Death Metal/Grind/Deathcore
Origin: USA
Label: Metal Blade/Riot! Entertainment
myspace.com/theredchord

Track listing:
1. Demoralizer
2. Hour of Rats
3. Hymns and Crippled Anthems
4. Embarrassment Legacy
5. Tales of Martyrs and Disappearing Acts
6. Floating Through the Vain
7. Ingest the Ash
8. One Robot To Another
9. Mouthful of Precious Stones
10. The Ugliest Truth
11. Face Area Solution
12. Sleepless Nights in the Compound <- Reviewers choice