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Label: Essential/Sony - Rating:
After listening to Red’s new album Innocence & Instinct, it has become more apparent to me that symphonic rock continues to find its way into the work of more and more prominent hard rock acts. This is somewhat amusing considering that it wasn’t too long ago that Metallica received some scathing criticism from a section of its diehard fan base for making a live record with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. The mixture of classical music with hard rock/heavy metal isn’t that surprising (where do you think the diminished fifth came from?), but like all musical trends that get abused, the recent excessiveness of string patches in contemporary rock has become cliche.
Unfortunately, Red, a hardcore quartet from Nashville, Tennessee, relies on these synthetic strings far too often in their second full-length. Although the patches are complimentary to Red’s style, they tend to sound generic and repetitive in several songs. But then again, as guitarist Jasen Rauch explains, maybe the band’s excessive use of symphonic melodies behind walls of distorted guitars is part of the duality theme of the record: “Innocence & Instinct is about the duality of man. The album examines the fight between our childlike innocence and the instinctive side that makes us do things we shouldn’t.”
Despite the overuse of strings, Innocence & Instinct picks up right where the band’s Grammy-nominated album (End of Silence) left off with the opener “Fight Inside.” The song builds from a lush piano line into a head-banging, guitar driven breakdown. The song is really the epitome of the album with effortless transitions between melodic verses and aggressive, over-driven choruses. Once again, keeping with the theme of duality, RED vocalist Michael Barnes not only combines searing screams with the soothing melodies, but his schizophrenic lyrics portray an internal struggle that was inspired in part by the imagery of Dante’s Inferno. On “Death Of Me,” a frantic, bass-drenched jam, Barnes addresses the ambivalence of his own personal spiritual struggle: “You tear me down and then you pick me up / You take it all and still it’s not enough.”
Much like fellow Christian rockers Pillar, RED’s personal struggles are sincere and come across with plenty of raw emotion. Barnes’ self-narratives are empathetic and real; with a powerful story behind each song. In short, Innocence & Instinct is a blend of full-fledge rock and decent orchestration. A solid album, but next time around in the studio they should ease up a bit on the strings.
Like RED? Check out: Pillar, Three Days Grace
