REVIEWS
WRITTEN BY: ROSS
I had the pleasure of listening to Red Hymns new EP “Vol. 3”, an EP that packaged unique styles of metal and post rock together in each song. The style that Red Hymns puts together for us isn’t something I generally come across as often.
The first song you’ll find on their EP is "Blvck," which starts out very heavy with a dark guitar riff that will grab the attention of anyone into melodic metal. The song from there changes into this very clean played verse with calming sang vocals. Though the chorus may have a very strong and defining melody, the song as a whole is a little generic in it’s writing and falls just a little short of it’s full potential. The main heavy guitar riff might be just a little too simplistic, and could have been expanded upon in it’s writing. Maybe that’s exactly what Red Hymns was looking for in their song, but to me I felt like they could have gone a little further in their writing. When the bridge comes in, the transition is a little bland but continuing with the bridge, the band surprises you with a very interesting lead riff and brings the chorus back in perfectly. The song then ends with a calming and beautiful instrumental, accompanied by light voicing in the back of the mix. "Defeated," the second song on “Vol. 3” catches you with an even darker guitar riff and an even more haunting verse. This is hands down the best song off Red Hymns' EP bringing an aesthetic unease in the instrumentation, and topping off some haunting features with the airy tone in the vocal performance. You hear more of the singers aggression in his unclean vocals on this song more so than the others. His choice of vocal tone and scale patterns not only make up for the fact that he’s not fully screaming, it also brings in this tension that the song needs. The instruments are in full harmony with the vocals together, listening to each other and bringing forth exactly what the song is intending to say. You truly hear Circa Survive and Deftones influences on this song instrumentally and vocally, and also the full potential that Red Hymns has in this track. "3yip" was the first song I heard and is also the last song on the “Vol. 3” EP. Structurally, the song works and flows extremely well. It starts off with a calming guitar riff before hitting the listener hard with verse. The chorus was the weakest part of the song, with mostly the drummer under playing what the song was really needing. The tom fills were way to simple for the style of music that this band is and left me wanting a better impact. The strongest part of the song is when the bridge comes in with the exact needed drum work needed, and the guitar and vocal melodies creating a wonderful post rock and ambient vibe to the song. Unfortunately, once the post bridge and breakdown hits, it became awkward vocally where it should have been more aggressive, and then again comes back unaggressive chorus. Not that "3yip" is a terrible song, in any way whatsoever, but to me it doesn’t stand out as much as the first two tracks. I hear so much of what Red Hymns truly is musically in the other songs off the album, but something falls short on "3yip" to me. Everyone has an opinion on music and can say a part is perfect or not perfect. It all depends on two things, the listener and the artist. Listening to the “Vol 3” EP, I hear on and off the potential the band has, and in some parts, where they didn’t put the full potential. Which is why I say specifically, things fell short and I would love to hear the band go full out on their next and upcoming releases because Red Hymns is onto a great sound right now that I feel is this close to being perfect and amazing. Despite any critique, following listening to this EP I had their songs stuck in my head which means the band did exactly what they should be doing in their writing. Not to mention the talent this band has in their playing and performance. If you’re a fan of Circa Survive, Thrice or Deftones, you just may want to check out Red Hymns because you’ll find a great deal of different styles hitting you at once that compliment each other and leave you wanting more. LISTEN TO the ep HERE:
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