Red
End Of Silence

From the vast Christian Rock landscape, the Red have recently emerged, at least in the USA. Personally, I don't follow the Christian Rock/Christian Metal scene much because there are many bands that have little or nothing artistic to offer: see The Letter Black, Evanescence, or Decyfer Down. Or Flyleaf, who, after a fairly good debut album, faltered with the next release. In short, what I want to say is that the Christian Rock / Christian Metal music genre does not offer many talented bands.

There are rare exceptions: bands like Skillet or the aforementioned Flyleaf have managed to create something good. Even Demon Hunter, in their beginnings, was not bad (they ruined themselves later, but that's another story). And then there's them: Red.

I discovered End Of Silence, their first album, purely by chance: I was watching a video of a song, and among the response videos, I noticed one called: "Red-Breathe Into Me." Okay, I said to myself, let's give it a try. I liked the song, so I decided to deepen my relationship with the group, and that's how I ended up listening to End Of Silence, their debut album. I realize this review is late: indeed, the album dates back to 2006. However, this is only due to the lack of interest from the Italian media regarding foreign Rock songs.

But let's get to the point, otherwise I'll go on too long here. The band lineup is:

*Michael Barnes - vocals

*Randy Armstrong - bass, piano, backing vocals

*Anthony Armstrong - guitar, backing vocals

*Jasen Rauch - guitar

*Hayden Lamb - drums

The sound is an Hard Rock without too many pretensions, sprinkled here and there with riffs of Nu Metal derivation (Breathe Into Me, Wasting Time), although there's a whiff of Grunge in some parts (Break Me Down, but more so in Hide) and of Pop (Pieces). The whole thing is seasoned with an orchestra that knows its craft and with typically Ambient electronic sounds. The album contains an Intro of one minute, which flows into Breathe Into Me, the first actual song and the first single. This song reflects the soul of everything that is End Of Silence and presents the base song of the group: aggressive riff, aggressive verse, melodic chorus. The guitars are fairly rocky, the drummer is not too virtuosic but not overly monotonous either, the bass does its job without excess, Michael's voice isn't bad. The singer has skill, singing almost always very melodically with some varied scream at the right point.

End Of Silence is a quite varied product, which is appreciated after numerous listens, particularly tracks like Already Over or Pieces may bore the first time you hear them, but over time they gain a particular identity and charm. The best moments are definitely the emotionally fading end of Let Go, the balance between melody and destruction of the ending Hide, the melancholy of Lost, the masterpiece of the album. The two most aggressive tracks are, alas, also the least inspired: Gave It All Away and Wasting Time, in my opinion, should have framed the mushy ballad Pieces, to break the aura of monotony.

The flaws of the album are the banality of the lyrics, which can nevertheless be overlooked, and certain damned Pop sounds that pander to the radio, to which the band owes its popularity in America. However, this is a good album, still immature in some respects, but it presents an excellent foundation for the future. Give this album at least one listen because the group has good capabilities. Score 7 out of 10.