Raise The Red Lantern – Raise The Red Lantern (2009)

I must say that releases that feature vocals like this never get good reviews from me; even after analyzing the music objectively the vocals ruin the album for me. This is not the case for Raise The Red Lantern, since their music is amazing and I was even able to zone out the vocals for the entire duration of this album.

Raise The Red Lantern is an American band that plays a very peculiar supper salad of different styles ranging from Sludge to Progressive Metal to Hard Rock to Stoner Rock, and they do so with great ability. While the overall feeling of the album can get them labeled as Sludge, they are more than that since the band’s sound is very unique.

RTRL showcase some solid instrument playing skills with audio trickery in the way that they use weird distortions to their advantage in creating a unique sound. The music is complex and yet digestible enough for the average listener. The riffing on the album is top notch, and while not the most diverse, it’s still very enjoyable. The drumming is very solid and never takes away of the guitar driven sound that this band has.

Like I mentioned before, as far as the vocals go just expect yelling and nothing else. But if you like this type of vocal performance, then I assume they are pretty standard to everything that I’ve listened in this genre. Similar bands that come to mind are Black Cobra, and most Sludge bands.

I must say that I’m very impressed with Raise The Red Lantern and their abilities at creating technical and different music. It’s good to see that bands are not conforming to their genres and trying to release stuff that sounds good and different. I will be waiting for more to come of this promising band.

Release: October 27, 2009

Country: USA