Despite the fact the band will be lumped in with the current trend of bands blurring the line between technical death metal and deathcore―or dropping deathcore elements (As You Drown, Oceano, Annotations of an Autopsy)―The Red Shore, as with their debut, to these ears, display nothing short of pure brutality. Regardless of how you view them.

In my opinion, The Red Shore still have hints of Decapitated (if you don’t believe me, listen to the title track and “Awakening”) and Nile swirling and lurking amid their more modern, burly exterior, and appear to have even upped the complexity a little making the, at times oppressive heft, even more impressive.

And while some may feel the album’s often relentless pace blends a little too much, personally, the sheer bulldozing nature of the album leaves me breathless with adrenalin sapping ferocity. The total and pure domination of the album’s pace and gait is simply a testament to everything brutal, eschewing anything remotely trendy, scene based or even core leanings.

After the rather needless intro of “Creation”, “Seeds of Annihilation” sets the tone for the next 11 tracks (there is a brief respite for interlude “The Union”) of pure unadulterated sonic savagery. There are so many slabs of neck slapping, spine shattering complexity and monstrous, heaving girth, it can be pretty overwhelming. It’s not a clean, noodly, proggy complexity a la Decrepit Birth either (although “The First and Last Things” tries), but a much fiercer, steroid injected, direct and oppressively heavy sense of menacing intricacy, backed by a robust, bottom end delivery. Look no further than the likes of “The Approaching Tempest”, “Reduced to Ruin”, lumbering mid-section of “And Its Own”,  undeniable standout “Inflict Decreation” and closer “The Relapse of Humanity” for total annihilation. Even if they seem somewhat interchangeable, the sonic force of the tracks will beat you into submission.

On the very slight downside, vocally, Chase Butler isn’t doing anything new or creative and I would not have been aware of vocalist change had I not read of it. There’s also some lyrical/thematic ambiguity as to whether the band is Christian or not (not that it matters to me, but it may to some). Whatever, as it doesn’t change the swathe that The Red Shore‘s The Avarice of Man leaves in its wake as one of 2010’s most relentless albums.

The fact is though, Australia’s The Red Shore, despite all the above going against them they are more along the lines of As You Drown, And Hell Followed With and label mates Those Who Lie Beneath in so much they deliver modern tech death metal with a slight deathcore lean, and while the land of Oz has some solid death metal/deathcore (Gallows Grace, Thy Art is Murder), this might be the heaviest thing to come out of Australia since…… er … Psycroptic?

Even with a choppy tech backbone and ultra beefy tone that reminded me of Decapitated, The Red Shore, like acts like The Faceless, and now defunct country mates Hiroshima Will Burn, is one of those bands many will dismiss as jumbled, tech death wanna be deathcore. However, even the most jaded metal heads will be hard to pressed to pass off the sheer heft and savagery of the likes of “The Garden of Impurity”, “Misery Hymn”, murderously heavy “The Architects of Repulsion” and as they forgo any sort of melody or atmosphere in favor of unadulterated brutality. No synths, no arpeggios, just overbearing, pummeling heaviness and occasional huge groove (“Deception:Prologue”, “Your Chariot Awaits”) rendered with a guitar tone that might be responsible for the Haiti earthquakes (too soon?). Only “Nephillim” offers a short instrumental respite before its blown away by closer “Vehemence of the Phoenix”.

Now, that all being said, this US/Rise Records release of Unconsecrated comes with a bonus album called Lost Verses, which feature the band’s 2006 Salvaging What’s Left EP as well as recorded demo tracks. And  these tracks, despite being basically a free album for the price of one, unfortunately shows the band’s much more distinct and trendy deathcore/blackcore leanings, including synths and lots of typical breakdowns. It’s not bad and still fierce and technical, and fans of Winds of Plague, Born of Osiris, or The Crimson Armada might even find tracks like “The St Valentine Day Massacre”, “Knives and Wolves” ,“Pulling Teeth” and “Thy Devourer” a real treat.

Still, you basically get over 60 minutes of music and two full albums on this version of Unconsecrated, and the first 9 alone make this a worthwhile purchase for open minded fans of uncompromising heaviness.