Red Seas Fire: Debut album easily one of the best of 2011

I remember the days when Red Seas Fire were just trying to find the members and means to have their group come together. They had a couple of tracks up, all instrumental, and showed promise of offering a new, original band to the mass of deathcore copycats and death metal wannabes. This group had flavor, fusing an aggressive, heavy modern metal sound with jazz elements (chords, solos, etc) to keep the listener enthused. Now these songs are on their debut album, with a full band including vocals, and my only question: WHY HASN'T ANYONE WRITTEN A REVIEW?

That's what I aim to do here. I mean, let's look at the brains behind the operation. Adam "Nolly" Getgood is a talented guitar player, endorsed by Vik Signature Guitars, and one of the many recognizable producers in the modern metal scene. He is currently helping mix and master the 2 new Periphery albums (with Misha Mansoor and Taylor Larson), and is their session/touring bassist for their European tour with Dream Theater. His friend, Pete Graves, or PeteyG, has made appearances on Youtube with his countless spot-on covers of different tracks, his remix of "Icarus Lives" appeared on the "Icarus Lives EP" released in 2011 by Periphery, and he's an avid user and promoter of various guitar and gear brands. Both players have combined their talents, efforts, and resources to produce an awesome album. Oh, and did I mention, it is FREE?? FREE! Zero dollars!

Each track offers the listener some great composition. Driving riffs get the listener hooked into the song right from the beginning, as seen in the 1st full track "Epinephrine". Choruses reach the climax of the track and then melt away into a new groove or an atmospherically melodic line. Tracks like "Timeframes" are no easy task to record or play live, and they do it in such a natural way that it's impressive. Everyone in the group has chops, but it's not just that they have great playing abilities. The real test is having players that are not only talented, but adaptable to the styles of their fellow performers, and Red Seas Fire does that nicely. Tossing in mixes of progressive metal, jazz, djent, and even some pop sounding licks and tricks really keep the album from growing dull or repetitive. You can hear the influences in their writing with every track. I'll say it again: this album is FREE, and I'm so surprised that they were that generous with their first release after all of the work they put into it.

With great players, great writing, and a fusing of different styles and electronic layers into one unique sound is what makes this band one not to ignore. PeteyG continues to post videos of covers, playthroughs, gear testing, and studio updates, as he is currently writing the bulk of the second Red Seas Fire release whilst Nolly is busy. They keep their fans updated with all of their exploits, so just seek and you will be informed!

Look at this album with an open mind if you are still expanding your musical pallette. Just because there isn't a typical breakdown every 5 mins, or that the vocals have emotion in them (why is that even a problem? that just means it's genuine), but rather absorb the fact that each track has a lot going on, yet it grooves so nicely together. Please, download this album if you haven't already, tune into the band's updates, and support these guys in whatever way you can by buying merch, seeing shows if you're in the area, and promoting them online and through word of mouth. Red Seas Fire have kicked the door wide open with their first release, and who knows what they'll enter into the room with next with their second release.