Suits of armour made from Pabst cans. Vengeful LARPers. Beer zombies. A beaten up car smashing through a china cabinet. There’s a good chance that one of these comes to mind when you hear Red Fang’s name. In an age where people can become self-made millionaires by being popular on YouTube, having the savvy to create a series of instantly meme-worthy music videos is a smart way of getting your band attention and Red Fang’s promo clips are among the most enjoyable and memorable of recent years.
But a band cannot live by quirky music videos alone and without the music to back it up there’s little chance of a lasting career. Luckily for us and anyone who bothered digging past those chucklesome videos, Red Fang are one of the finest rock bands around today, melding riff-heavy stoner with influenza-level catchiness to create a perfect storm of party metal.
Following the band’s 2011 breakthrough ‘Murder The Mountains’ and 2013’s ‘Whales And Leeches’, Red Fang have returned this year with what might be their most killer set of bangers yet in ‘Only Ghosts’. Produced by the legendary Ross Robinson (At The Drive-In, GlassJaw, every Nu-metal album released between 1994 and 2002), the album delivers everything Red Fang have spent their career so far developing, this time refined to a sharp point. Having such a metal luminary behind the boards has brought out the best in the band, each riff and bellow hitting home with precision, yet keeping the warm, lived-in crunch that has always been a key marker in the Portland, Oregon quartet’s sound. Robinson has clearly paid close attention to the band in the past and, rather than try to imprint his distinctive style on them, has allowed their natural sonic inclinations to direct proceedings, resulting in a crisp-yet-earthy sound that showcases every aspect. From John Sherman’s solid and weighty drumming to Aaron Beam’s often haunting vocals, they’re showcased here most prominently on the album’s seventh track, ‘The Smell Of The Sound’.
Red Fang have always had a knack for mixing incredibly memorable hooks into their riff-centric jammers, and ‘Only Ghosts’ is rammed full of tracks that are destined to become live favourites, with the likes of ‘Wires’ and ‘Prehistoric Dog’. Lead single and opening track ‘Flies’ kicks in with a simple bass-kick and blues riff before launching almost immediately into a high-octane storm of riffs and vocal trade-offs between Beam and guitar player Bryan Giles’ throaty roar. It’s a hell of a way to kick off an album, wasting no time in setting the tone for what’s to come, from it’s rumbling bassline to David Sullivan’s shredding guitar leads.
The album shifts from future party anthems like ‘Shadows’ and ‘Cut It Short’ to darker and more brooding stompers like ‘No Air’ and album closer ‘Living In Lye’. Red Fang don’t really get deeply serious, and there’s always an element of fist-in-the-air abandon even at their slowest moments, but the changes in pace on tracks like these keeps ‘Only Ghosts’ from becoming monotone and repetitive.
Having toured the world with Torche, Mastodon and The Dillinger Escape Plan, Red Fang’s star has continued to rise and the aforementioned hilarious music videos continue to win the band new fans on a daily basis – the recent video they put out for ‘Shadows’ is another spectacular mix of beer-fuelled stupidity and action-movie gore. ‘Only Ghosts’ is not a great revolution for Red Fang or for heavy music in general, but for a band with such a clear mission statement it didn’t need to be. This is music to get ripped on cheap beer to, music to throw on super loud at a party and headbang to, music to have a really good time to. And ‘Only Ghosts’ is nothing if not a really fucking good time.
JAMES LEE