Bloodsimple

Bloodsimple's Red Harvest feels like it should have come out during rock 'n roll's glory days in the '60s and '70s. Instead, it just happens to be one of the most substantive and vibrant heavy music releases of 2007. Vocalist Tim Williams weaves lyrical tapestries of road-weary killers, drug addicts and outlaws over the course of 11 pummeling, but entrancing tracks.

Are the requisite bludgeoning grooves and razor sharp riffs prominent? Yes. Let's not forget that Bloodsimple's ranks consist of veterans of the groundbreaking hardcore band Vision of Disorder—Williams and Mike Kennedy (guitar). Here, however, the band channels its brutality into a cohesive and focused narrative, with vibrant characters. Williams has possessed one of metal's most distinct voices since his days in Vision of Disorder, and on "Dead Man Walking," "Out to Get You" and especially "Truth," his vocals simply soar as he seamlessly switches from a guttural growl to a near-croon.

Another standout track "Ride With Me" borrows some lyrics from The Doors' classic "The End," but it sets the stage for a band reborn with a melodic echo of guitars and Williams' acid-drenched lyrical trip to hell. "Whiskey Bent and Hellbound" and album closer "Numina Infuscata" blend infectious riffs with screams that could wake the dead, proving Bloodsimple haven't gotten any less heavy—even with all of the experimentation.

Vision of Disorder were arguably the progenitors of the entire metalcore genre, but they never got the credit they deserved. One listen to Red Harvest, and it's plain to see that the members of Bloodsimple deserve some serious props for once again turning the genre upside down.

—Rick Florino
12.11.07