Review: “The Red Verse” by Dog Tired

They have already achieved critical acclaim for a number of prior works, relentlessly toured European lands and played reoccurring festival slots at Bloodstock, Rabidfest and Red Crust to name but a few… So they approach their 20th Anniversary, a fifth album “The Red Verse” from Edinburgh Groove Metal act Dog Tired is an intriguing prospect, made possible with a little help from their friends in King Witch. Recorded at Nameless City Sound studio in Lauder with Jamie Gilchrist, guitarist of the Edinburgh Doom merchants and adorned by artwork created by their vocalist Laura Gilchrist, this latest chapter in the bands career owes the pair a debt of gratitude as the quartet’s unhealthy obsession with riffs continues…

Although not officially declared a concept record, the album and song titles speak for themselves in offering up tales of science fiction, something that their prior works have all had in common, this time orientating around the Red Planet. “Fractured” starts the album with frenzy of groove laden riffs, Chris Thomson’s booming vocals balanced on a knife edge. Clean enough that there can be no misheard lyrics and unclean enough to satisfy in the scream-a-long steaks, they allow the stories of the album to have a life of their own. After that opening anvil grind with its space age synth vortex introduction opens the interdimensional wormhole, through it comes “Eyes Of The Divine“, which finds the band turning up the heat and increasing the Death Thrash Metal tinges in their Groove Metal offering. A timeless cut that could have been offered up as a virgin sacrifice at any point in the past forty years and be held aloft as the holy grail, its a classic that even the most hardened of Metal heads will love. Getting you into a headlock before charging headlong into traffic, “Of Severed Gods” is Thrash fuelled classic that the so called Big Four would be proud to call their own, such is the quality of the musicianship. The hours of toil in the rehearsal space, sharpening the axes and tweaking the lyrics have paid off handsomely as the rhythmic aggression shines with slick transitions and neck snapping appeal. “The Wall” has at its heart a bludgeoning blast beat section that deviates from the formula immaculately as the band take a leaf from the book of early Gojira and paint the white to grey. The percussion from Keith Blaikie sounds huge, the bass from Barry Buchanan thunderous as the eight legged monster create cosmic storms effortlessly.

Mars” follows suit, depicting the kind of hellscape that Antony Hoffman had in mind when he directed Red Planet in the year 2000 while continuing the follow of the album, which is as seamless and hot as a river of volcanic lava. While there is no solo to speak of, slightly odd time signatured lead parts close out the track in blistering style. Achingly beautiful and darkly atmospheric, mid-album instrumental “Relic” showcases another side to the band offering a palate cleansing moment of clarity in acoustic guitars that float like the work of Jerry Cantrell on “Unplugged” by Alice In Chains. Building to an electric grand finale, it segues into “It Awaits” perfectly before unleashing the solo the album screams for with fretboard smouldering consequences. There is even time for a stomping groove riff section reminiscent of the work of Pissing Razors in the late 90’s as the band swing back with verve and swagger and keep the punches coming like a heavyweight title contender. Melodic Death Metal style leads creep into “Godless Carrion Pit” adding another textural layer while Thomson finds a hitherto unheard gravelly new low but it’s the Progressive Metal leaning eight minute piece of epic grandeur that is “Pillars Of Phobos” which steals the attention. A sumptuous bassline from Buchanan with just a hint of funk flair to it is the torch that burns the bridges to light the way, the band building a mountain as the cut plays out. Very much in the same vein as those early Metallica instrumentals like “Call Of The Ktulu“, this one is simply sublime. Where once eight minute monster lives, a second does in the album title track “The Red Verse” with an artery opening dirge laden main riff. A genre tour de force that doubles as a single all consuming raging inferno, it ensures that the album ends in style with a false ending executed with the precision of a laser guided missile strike [8.5/10]

Track Listing

  1. Fracture
  2. Eyes Of The Divine
  3. Of Severed Gods
  4. The Wall
  5. Mars
  6. Relic (Instrumental)
  7. It Awaits
  8. Godless Carrion Pit
  9. Pillars Of Phobos
  10. The Red Verse

The Red Verse” by Dog Tired is out 3rd June 2023

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