The Red Chord

Clients

[4] It’s becoming routine that any avant-metal-grind band who cut their teeth on the Robotic Empire label will eventually take the next step into utter fucking massiveness; and there’s no better example of this phenomenon in action than New England bruisers the Red Chord. Now sporting their umpteenth rhythm section since 2000, the band have really come into their own over the past year, entering the proverbial big time with fangs bared, chests puffed and, of course, one monster of a sophomore album to back it all up. Brutal as ever, but more rhythmically diverse than previous efforts (i.e., they’re not just “that sick breakdown band” anymore), Clients explodes with the chug of hardcore, the velocity of grindcore, the time changes of math-metal, and the guttural vocals and pinched guitar squeals of technical death metal; but ultimately, it’s the band’s finesse at weaving this stuff into a blur that’ll have you scraping your jaw off the floor when the album’s playing. (BLACKMARKET ACTIVITIES/METAL BLADE)-Aaron Burgess