Red Six – ‘Nausea’ EP

When Belfast’s Red Six – there’s only five of them and, no, it’s not just you, we’ve never been able to figure it out either – released their debut EP, ‘Devour’, a little over a year ago, it immediately not only garnered them heaps of critical acclaim but also, coupled with their no-holds-barred-fuck-you-if-you-don’t-like-it live shows (complete with minimalistic all black stage garb), built them a rabid local fanbase. However, as if to prove the truth of the old adage about never having too much of a good thing, the band almost immediately disappeared off the radar nearly as quickly as they had appeared on it – only to emerge from their hibernistic hiatus with this second collection of four kick ass groove metal delights.

One thing’s for certain about Red Six – they don’t fuck about, but get straight to the point, and this do immediately with the appropriately entitled ‘Super Destroyer’. It’s a beast of a song, mixing death metal and hardcore grooves with ease, built on the insanely tight rhythm section of Robert and Rab, over which the guitars of Steve and Laura twist and turn, bubble and boil, before Gerard’s vocal rips off your arm and beats you round the head with the still bleeding stump.

‘Seasick’ appropriately begins on a rolling bass line before the guitar kicks in with an insanely infectious chugging riff, underpinned by one of Robert’s more restrained drum performances and topped off with Gerard’s primarily spoken-style vocal (very much a la Anselmo on ‘Walk’) to deliver a guaranteed headbangers’ delight of a heavy metal shanty. The brilliantly titled ‘God’s Colostomy Bag’ is the most hardcore offering, coming across like Cancer Bats covering Pantera.

Closer ‘The Nomad’ is a sprawling epic of a monster, built on another set of pumping bass, drum and guitar riffs (with Rab also managing to find the space to throw in some neat jazzy bass fills), and has a more experimental feel about it which means that perhaps, at eight-plus minutes, it’s a tad overlong – but it’s also a sign of the ambition the band have to challenge both themselves and their audiences.

‘Nausea’ is not so much a major step forward – although the performances are a lot tighter and more restrained in their hinted underlying violence than on its predecessor, the songs consequently are more mature and Steve’s increasingly confident backing vocals add an extra depth in this department – it is a definite consolidation of Red Six’s reputation as one of the heaviest and most impressive bands on the Norn Iron circuit at the moment.

[7.5/10]Red Six

Band portrait by Hannah Watson

Track listing:
1. Super Destroyer
2. Seasick
3. God’s Colostomy Bag
4. The Nomad

‘Nausea’ is available for free download from http://www.facebook.com/redsixband/app_178091127385

About Mark Ashby

no longer planetmosh staff