Matricide
Red
Self released
Hard core and groove metal aren’t generally natural stable mates. It’s like having a party animal and a serious scowler in the same room. It’s not often they become best mates. Matricide from Tel Aviv make it work though, and to splendid effect. The music bounces along interspersed with neat breakdowns and chuggy riifage while the lyrics are hammered home with great enthusiasm. Topics of war and world demise lean heavily into social commentary without, and this is crucial, taking any sides. There’s a proggy element to ‘Red’ too but that doesn’t come at the expense of accessibility. This is more a case of adventurous writing rather than a showing off of technical prowess. This is a more mature showing from Matricide and one that deserves to be taken notice of.
Review by Gary Trueman