Hailing from North Wales, Redwood Avenue emerges from the shadows to release their debut EP – ‘Reflections’.
The EP starts off with the eerie sounds of a raid siren during a thunderstorm. That ‘eerie’ vibe instantly changes into full on Metalcore as the intro riff kicks in. Straight from the get-go, you know what you’re getting with Redwood Avenue – a band that takes their Metalcore with a pinch of straight up, old school, Hardcore Punk. As a fan of both genres respectively - this was a welcome surprise.
As the EP progresses we are treated to some warm, welcoming clean vocals that have a striking resemblance to such artists as: AJ Channer (Fire From The Gods) and John Cooper (Skillet). I find that it’s these vocals that help separate Redwood Avenue from the herd of underground UK Metalcore bands.
Over the course of the next few songs it became apparent to me that Redwood Avenue have created a sound that blurs the lines between Metalcore and Hardcore by constantly mixing elements of both genres successfully. Towards the end of the record we come to a track named ‘Inane’. This is one of my favourite tracks off the EP; the low tuned, Djent-esque gritty main riff helps to keep the listener’s ear engaged and certainly caught my attention. The guitar work and overall vibe on this track is reminiscent of the early work of the band Deftones. The ‘groove-metal’ breakdown at 3:06 is arguably my favourite part of the EP.
As the final, and titular track ‘Reflections’ plays out, we are treated to a more than heavy enough ending to what has been a pleasantly fresh record. ‘Reflections’ ends the EP it’s named after with a strong chorus that cements this track as the ‘uplifting’ and ‘epic’ track of the EP.
Overall the band performs reasonably well with a pretty strong debut release that is sure to send not just ripples, but waves in the underground North Wales Metalcore scene. As solid as this record is, I couldn’t help but find the audio production a little bit off-putting at times. Sometimes this worked in the band’s favour, but mostly I believed the guitars and bass to be a bit ‘lacking’ in the typical ferocity that comes with the Metalcore genre. The lyrics were also a bit stale at times, but this was rare.
Conclusion: Imagine if Stray From the Path and Deftones had a lovechild – that’s where Redwood Avenue would fit in. The ‘Reflections’ EP is a jumpy, chuggy, dirty sounding debut record that is sure to win the hearts of almost any Hardcore / Metalcore fan.
Rating : 6/10 Review by Sam H
For Fans Of: Stray From the Path, Deftones, The Colour Morale, (early) Architects
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