Redshift – ‘Cataclysm’ (Self-Released)

By DJ Monk

I have a problem with a lot of what is passed off as “progressive” music, and especially as “progressive metal”, these days. And that is the fact that, to my ears anyway, it’s not in the slightest bit “progressive”. It just seems to follow what has now become a staid formula: take a load of hardcore riffs, speed them up by placing a brick on the accelerator pedal, add in a shit load of arpeggios and solo slots played at a bazillion notes per second, a few touches of keyboards to lend “atmosphere”, a vocalist who covers up the fact that he can’t actually sing a note by pretending he’s auditioning for an Eighties Scandinavian black metal outfit and, hey presto, you’re a “progressive metal” band who sound just like every other “progressive metal” band out there… Where is the actual innovation? Where is the progression? Where is the pushing the musical boundaries that the very adjective “progressive” would infer? Yes, the genre has had its innovators, but they are few and far between. Which is where Redshift’s debut album makes an interesting proposition, as it veers between the mistake of falling into the copycat trap while also injecting a freshness and a vibrancy into what has become an otherwise staid and meaningless mien.

Let’s get the criticisms out of the way first, shall we? Now, to be honest, they are very few, and they mostly relate to the deathcore-style vocals I referenced in my opening ramble. To be honest, they are over-used and largely unnecessary, especially as Liam Fear demonstrates, for the most part, that he has a decent voice with a good range: maybe they are being used to emphasize the darker elements of the album’s storyline – it’s a concept based around an alien invasion and the end of the world (well, it would hardly be much else, would it?) – but I personally feel that they detract from the depth and intricacy of what is going on in the background. And it is this which also exacerbates my other, slightly less annoying problem, and that is the inconsistency of styles, especially in the first half of the album, which switches from classic-style prog a la Rush et al to out-and-out hardcore beatdowns (check ‘Fire, Smoke And Thunder’ as a prime example of what I mean) and back again with the weaving drunkenness of someone trying to make their way home after a day on the Furstenberg!

Hang on, I mentioned Rush? Yes, I did, and it is this that leads me to accentuate the album’s positive aspects, as there are large sections of ‘Cataclysm’, such as the majority of ‘Invasion’, ‘Call To Arms’ and the second two sections of both ‘May Fate Rest Upon You’ and ‘The Last Stand’ (which clocks in at a positively progtastic 18-and-a-half minutes), that provide serious clues as to what Messrs Lee, Lifeson and Peart might sound like if they were trying to break through (or release the likes of ‘2112) in the 21^st century rather than the latter half of the 1970s. And it is when they look over their shoulders, to the genuinely ground-breaking ranks of the likes of Rush, Genesis and Dream Theater, that Redshift are at their strongest and most convincing.

Another massive plus point for this ambitious album is its organic feel, with each of the instruments blending naturally together: the technical ability of the three musicians is undeniable, but the overall feel is that they do not allow the technicality of what is going on to override the emotion of what they are attempting to portray – a mistake so many “prog” bands, sacrificing the latter in favour of showing off just how proficient they are on their eight-string guitars, nine-string basses and drumkits the size of the average living room!

Yes, it has its flaws, but overall ‘Cataclysm’ is a massively impressive debut, which has helped put the “progressive” back into “prog” and should appeal to fans of both classic Seventies pioneers, especially in the complex song arrangements and aforementioned nods to Genesis, Rush and even Jethro Tull (check out the “flute” interlude in ‘Invasion’), as well as the more modern, metallic take on the genre as espoused by the likes of Between The Buried And Me and Opeth.

‘Cataclysm’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.

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