Red Death’s menacing mix of Hardcore and Thrash recalls ’80s genre staples without falling down the influence hole completely. The Washington, D.C.-based band’s freshly minted third album, Sickness Divine, is again awash in disillusionment, as song titles like “Exaltation of Decay,” “Ravage,” Dreadful Perception” and “Sheep May Unsafely Graze” attest. Frontperson Chad Troncale’s vocals are front and center, cutting through the slashing dual guitars and frenzied drumming on “Face the Pain” as he ominously sing/screams, “Time, is dying out like a flame/Burn, before you fade in vain.”
Curiously, the angst was at least in part inspired by the most successful movie franchise ever conjured — specifically writer/director Rian Johnson’s 2017 Star Wars effort that alienated some fans for supposedly straying too far from the formula.
“The Last Jedi came out like two weeks after the last record did, and it blew my mind,” Troncale said in a recent interview with Hard Noise. “I know people like to hate The Last Jedi but not me. I love it! I will stand and die gladly for that belief. Rian Johnson was a huge inspiration for me this time around, one of the biggest, honestly. His ability to make something look retro yet do something so weird and new with it is awesome.”
“Now, I’m obviously not trying to mimic anyone,” Troncale continued. “I’m just trying to further something in my own unique way. Rian Johnson perfectly did that and it inspires me big time. The cover art for Sickness Divine was actually inspired by a shot from his first movie, Brick.
“How do I get Sickness Divine in Rian Johnson’s headphones?”
Red Death plays Northside Yacht Club on Wednesday, Jan. 8 with Enforced, Sanguisugabogg and Treason. Tickets: cincyticket.com. More show info: northsideyachtclub.com.
This article appears in Dec 25, 2019 – Jan 7, 2020.