Release Date: Oct 14, 2016
Genre(s): Pop/Rock
Record label: Relapse Records
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Those who have been following Red Fang know that they are about to be on Andrew W.K. status, as far as being legendary partiers. They've made a handful of videos that feature hilarious antics as they drink beer, sword fight and demolish things, and their feel-good, pummelling, straightforward style of metal-infused rock reflects this positive attitude.Their latest release, Only Ghosts, manages to showcase even better than previous records how well they balance technical ability and catchiness.
An album you won't forget. The news of producer / nu-metal godfather Ross Robinson working with Oregon stoner-rockers Red Fang may have raised eyebrows, but after a spin of ‘Only Ghosts’, all doubts will dissolve.Korn’s go-to man has pried out a raw emotion that was lacking from 2013’s ‘Whales And Leeches’, especially in the band’s dual-vocal harmonies, and captured a more focused and sharp performance overall.Don’t worry, the heavy, sludgy numbers are still there (‘No Air’, ‘The Smell Of the Sound’) but it’s the driving energy and urgency of hook-filled bangers like ‘Flies’ and ‘Not For You’ that makes this memorable. .
Portland riffmongers’ spirited performance As endearingly thunderous as they’ve always been, Red Fang have never strayed far from a righteous diet of riff-driven meat ’n’ potatoes. The end result is a sound that sits somewhere between Motörhead and Mastodon, the ingenuity of the latter outweighed by the heads-down bludgeon of the former. ADVERTISINGinRead invented by Teads .
Pairing pummelling riffs with catchy tunes, Red Fang are one of those bands – alongside the likes of Baroness and Torche – that at their finest show the potential to challenge for the throne of the mighty Metallica. Hoping to capitalise on the success of 2013’s breakout record Whales And Leeches, this outing sees Portland’s premier pop-metallers recruiting the services of nu-metal producer extraordinaire Ross Robinson. While he hasn’t encouraged any of this bunch to dress as a gimpy clown or do a bit of a rap, Robinson still isn’t the best fit because his dense, bassy recording sounds restrictively claustrophobic.
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