Red Means No Mercy offers us its first album.
Four years after its creation and two years after its first demo, the band composed of Georgiy Demchenko (vocals), Nico Chera (guitar), Arne Mehlfeld (bass) and Jonathan Staedele (drums) unveils us Motheater.
The band’s style is quite unusual: whether the Deathcore/modern Slam Death basis is obvious, the sound is deeply inspired by raw Old School Death Metal. The abrasive rhythmic on Scarmend is an instant proof, while the vocalist’s howlings sometimes pick into Grindcore. The short Spiegelkratzer confirms those greasy and violent influences, then the band is back to assault us with Crippled and Pinned Down, one of the band’s most direct song, integrating some screaming harmonics. Breaks and moshparts are not aside of the track, neither on Sacrilege, one of the heaviest compositions, contrasted by possessed howlings, then the band welcomes Hardcore influences from their compatriots in Repressed for Pain, a short energetic song.
Gatewatcher darkens the band’s riffs with Beatdown roots for the coming of Alan Grnja (Distant), then Pestilentia Hominae offers simple and effective riffs before an oppressive break, that calls a weighing violence and piercing leads. The band is totally unleashed with Heresy, a quite mad song that combines fastness and heaviness with an explosive rage, then Exorcised Gods, another german Deathcore band, comes to help the musicians on the powerful Rotting Elysium. We continue with Explanation of Inhuman Acts, a song that will gradually become heavier and more violent, then with Motheater, the eponymous song and its visceral rage. Old School tones give the song a true personality, then Depths of Me comes to close this vivid and dark episode of aggressive heaviness. Beware this airy break and those heady melodies, because they are dangerously addictive, and the raw wave of strength is never this far.
With this first album, Red Means No Mercy shows some one-of-a-kind musical personality. On Motheater, modern violence meets an abrasive and violent Old School sound, that makes it move from effective to indispensable.
90/100