The Red Chord – Fed Through The Teeth Machine

This is the year of… declarations. What began as the “comeback” era at the tail end of 08’ has come full circle this fall, dishing out high profile releases like a clumsy chef. Seriously, it seems like every James-Cameron-In-Spirit metal blockbuster rushed to be released in time for the Hallowe’en launch parties. And yeah, high profile for some, a gnat on Wayne Coin’s plastic bubble for others – Regardless, for a voracious metal community, last month was a 30 day Pagan solstice. The jump from 2007 to 2009 has yielded many follow ups from many important artists; artists, whose music felt and belonged barely noticed 10 years ago, that are now the dons of underground heavy music. Boston… Well here I usually would denote the genre affiliation (adding neat nouns, like surgeons, or inmates) of The Red Chord before introducing the band proper – but that would make a two pump chump out of my central argument. In any case, I can wholeheartedly introduce the band in this way: Boston death metal outfit The Red Chord have contributed Fed Through The Teeth Machine to this year’s prolific string of efforts.

Maintaining a tight catalogue, The Red Chord is not a stranger to Unique Leader-esque technical brutality, or jagged tremolo ascents – all effective facets of a modern death metal release. Debut Fused Together In Revolving Doors will always be an integral entry into the early 00’s “short haired” canon (a wonderful time when it would be unsurprising to have a Rivers Cuomo lookalike performing slam gutturals). Enter the one-two uppercut of Clients and Prey For Eyes; two discs dealing with mental illness and criminality respectively. These releases were strong meditations on Gunface’s distinct love of punked-out chainsaw deathisms, a helping of groove, and frantic…franticness. Previous rhythm guitarist Johnny Fay exited the band immediately after the recording for Prey For Eyes, and new applicant Mike Keller was “dismissed” shortly after that (it got weird). Thus, the whittling down Red Chord – now comprised of founding vocalist Guy Kozowyk, drummer Brad Fickeisen, bassist Greg Weeks, and Gunface – has produced a new declaration. Kozowyk can be heard clearing his throat between his songs on stage these days; thanking his audience for accepting a death metal band amongst a hardcore line up.  There is a trace of pride, mentally standing with his band behind a line they drew when they began to write Fed Through The Teeth Machine. While death metal was arguably the most consistent aesthetic in The Red Chord’s discography (trading blows with metallic hardcore, and prototypical nu-grind), it has now been committed to, and declared.

Where there is focus, there is also a matching vibrant energy – which is not terminology I would ever think to use when discussing this content. The Red Chord’s new self-actualization is not a pat on the back like Job For A Cowboy’s latest grasps at credibility; it is embracing a strong undercurrent that always existed in their work and maximizing it to the fullest. In effect, what one gets is the essential Red Chord album.  Where Prey For Eyes sacrificed overall cohesion for fantastic concepts, Teeth Machine remedies this and maintains a steady tone. “Demoralizer” is a mood piece, adopting another classic bridge – in the spirit of “Upper Decker”, and “Pray For Eyes” , track one provides an intact Red Chord spirit while conforming to a pre-established death metal palette. This call is answered on closing piece “Sleepless Nights In The Compound”, a monumental song that trumps every other brilliant final track this band has written. Motivated only by the quality of its composition, and the execution of such, no gimmick or tongue in cheek details are required to prove how gripping this band can be. Between both tracks: “Hour Of Rats” borrows some cymbal tricks from Deeds Of Flesh’s latest effort, all of which are timed so precisely – a stroke of genius, heightened only by some of the best guitar soloing heard this year. “Embarrassment Legacy” is another exhibition of tight songwriting. It’s all doom and gloom and relentlessly addictive at that. “Floating Through The Vein” is their strongest song yet recorded, a new legend for legitimate death metal bands to set their watches to. When it comes to instrumental tightness (I am looking at you Zeuss, you angry, angry perfectionist), Teeth Machine raises a bar that terminates in Jupiter’s Great Red Spot. Fickeisen has been the most underrated drummer in extreme music (no, really) for too long, a crime that will be remedied after the world hears the latter half of “Mouthful Of Precious Stones”. It is track after track of uncompromised quality, as if listening to it is the album writing itself so comfortably and naturally for the first time. Despite the ultra-tight and committed construction of it all, the band’s (deserved) intensive focus often drags – the songs do not slow, but their shape is rigidly constant, lacking of new colours that could hazardously dilute the tone they are stubbornly maintaining. It is not unrelentingly grim (there are some trademark lulz to be had on “Tales Of Martyrs And Disappearing Acts”), but the disc favours a timbre of no-nonsense more often than naught. At times, in the world of this album, every slouch I find myself in is answered by an abrupt “sit up straight!”. The rigidity extends to tracks like “Mouthful Of Precious Stones”, which has an intro that could have benefited from the looseness and groove of that on Vomit The Soul’s Apostles Of Inexpression, or even best friend BTBAM’s new swagger on The Great Misdirect. Despite this, Fed Through the Teeth Machine is superior to both of those albums, and its uniform focus is an element to nurture… you know, nurture in the most barbaric and metal way possible. It is quality death metal through and through, maintaining the familiar aspects of The Red Chord  – A rare contribution, especially for death metal itself. Thank God they came fashionably late to the party.

(8.5/10)

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