Birmingham rockers Fire Red Empress have just hit the scene with their debut EP, Paint Me The Devil. Though a fairly short one in length, this is a powerful and had hitting statement by the band with plenty of energising riffs and a style you really ought not to ignore in an upcoming band.
Opening up with “Left Unspoken” and its awesome introduction riff that feels a little doomey in places, that when it meets with the great layered vocal approach feels like Queens Of The Stone Age meets The Sword. The overall offering on this track is really heavy, with a tense overall sound, with a great sense of groove too. “Paint Me The Devil” has another really great start, with some nice layered guitars painting (no referential humour intended) a really cool atmosphere. The vocals again are really cool here, and the song is nice and dynamic, with softer moments meeting the heavier moments to make something really cool. The chorus is another belter here, with nice vocal harmonies and a nice aggressive approach.
“Behind The Veil” closes the EP in style, with a longer track at just over 6 minutes. This is performed really well and keeps it interesting throughout, showing that the band can handle the longer stuff just as well. The first verse has a nice drumbeat and some more atmospheric sounding guitars rather than straight up riffage, before exploding into the heavier stuff, making it quite impactful. This is a cool song with a lot going on; plenty of different riffs to keep it sounding fresh, and some great songwriting brings it all together.
The EP was produced by Volbeat’s Jacob Hansen, and it’s a nice tight and modern sounding effort, the drums are nice and thumping, and the guitars are very chunky. The vocals shine more than anything, with lots of layering and the like done to make them sound really powerful. The bass is a little low at time for my personal liking but it is all a solid mix nonetheless.
Paint Me The Devil is a great introduction to Fire Red Empress, and says more in three tracks that some can say in a whole album! There is plenty of emotion on show from the band here, with great songwriting combined with skilful musicianship to make something definitely worth checking out!
Check out Fire Red Empress at https://www.facebook.com/fireredempress
The new lyric video for “Left Unspoken” from the EP:
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