RIGHTEOUS VENDETTA
Lawless
[Red Cord Records]
Verdict: 8/10
Luckily, Red Cord has stepped back up from the Broken Mirrors release (MERCY SCREAMS) with Lawless, by RIGHTEOUS VENDETTA. The obvious difference between both albums is that Lawless actually has fun energy fueling it. The band keeps things interesting by switching vocal types frequently, and the instrumental work is furious. As a result, the album plays out quite entertainingly (despite having a fairly similar sound throughout). The occasional singing sounds pretty sharp, while the screaming variants feel passionate. This equals to good vocal work from all angles. The song structures themselves are mostly “straight forward” in the sense they don’t experiment much (though “Prelude to Destruction” does feature a nice mid-section), but it’s not really a concern since it all gets you moving. The main thing to keep in mind here is that Lawless reels you in and keeps you interested from start to finish. RIGHTEOUS VENDETTA have a metalcore formula that not only works well, it manages to do enough to keep their heads above the crowd of artists flooding the scene. They may not be the best at it, and Lawless may not be an excellent album, but this is a release worth picking up. – By Nathaniel Lay
>Recommended Tracks: “Prelude to Destruction”, “Signs”, “The Chosen Ones”
>Release Date: November 8, 2011
>Bottom Line: RIGHTEOUS VENDETTA have appeared from nowhere and impressed me with this release. Lawless has a lot of great energy to it that listeners will easily fall over. These guys could Red Cord’s next star band to push.