Sixteen years ago something happened to me during my nine year ride at Houston Community College. It is August 3, 2007. I was at the Verizon Wireless Theater (now the Bayou Music Center) seeing Dream Theater for the Chaos in Motion tour at the time they were promoting their ninth studio release, Systematic Chaos. But the opening acts for the main event were two bands, Canada’s own Into Eternity, and Los Angeles’ Redemption.
Into Eternity are a progressive death metal band and they released their fourth album The Scattering of Ashes. And they had done a very good job by bringing those two genres into a large scale assault at the venue by having audiences spellbound by their performance. But once Redemption took the stage during their promotion for The Origins of Ruin, the monster was unleashed.
At the time, Prymary’s Sean Entrikin filled in the latter dates as Nicolas van Dyk was having his demanding ‘day job’. Dyk appeared at the venue at the Verizon Wireless, and let me just say, Redemption stole the show and gave metal heads a night they’ll never forget.
Yes Dream Theater gave Houston audiences all their engines revved up and ready to go, but Redemption stole the show. After they finished their set, I was very fortunate to shake their hands and told them that they did a hell of a job in the Lone Star state. And they were glad to hear that.
And having my ears ringing from that night’s performance, it was a concert I’ll never forget. And then I completely forgotten about Redemption. Until now. Since their formation in 2001 and with various line-up changes, Redemption have brought in a massive amount of rope pulling to bring in a sense of hope, and the strength of wisdom with their eighth studio album on the AFM label, I Am the Storm.
Like a giant battering ram, swinging down, and hitting your stomach with a hardcore punch, Redemption have brought in the big guns to gain enough rapid firing throughout the whole town. They also show their soft side with epic boundaries, story-telling elements, and going beyond from the metal sounds that they’re known for.
Take the 14-minute epic ‘Action at a Distance’. You can hear Dyk’s double echoing acoustic guitars, filling up the void before Quirarte’s percussion work takes you to the hottest part of the jungle while the orchestration and blistering fret work, sets up even more trouble across the horizon.
I just love how it’s structured like a comic book being brought to life. It details the struggles, intensity, and operatic fire that comes at you like a bat out of hell! You don’t know what’s going to happen next, but Redemption goes for the jugular with some Steve Vai-sque compositions and thrashing riffs that are absolutely insane!
You can cut the tension with a knife as they combine the golden-era of Muse, Von Hertzen Brothers, and Within Temptation, rolled into one. Then they enter the ‘80s synth territory with Andrews lighting up the fuse and erupting his bass into chaos on ‘Seven Minutes from Sunset’.
You can hear the blistering textures, followed by arpeggiated styles that Dyk creates on his guitar. He makes it howl at the moon by climbing these rapid mountains for a concerto that’ll make your heart pound like crazy!
‘Remember the Dawn’ opens up with a Morse code texture, coming at you between art rock and the NWOBHM movement. Combining Kate Bush’s The Kick Inside, Mark Hollis’ songwriting from his Talk Talk years, and the first two Iron Maiden albums with Paul Di’Anno handling the mixing levels on this track.
It seems like an odd pairing, but it works! ‘The Emotional Depiction of Light’ sees Redemption moving into an alternative rock and indie pop sound by swimming towards Chris Cornell’s spiritual guidance and the Arcade Fire’s Neon Bible-era by singing the composition in the styles of ‘Black Wave / Bad Vibrations’.
As they revved up their engines for the opening title-track and ‘Resilence’, they tip their hat to their fellow comrades with Genesis. From the symphonic approach with a Kill ‘Em All-era of ‘Turn It On Again’, to the pouring waters on Peter Gabriel’s ‘Red Rain’, Redemption have never forgotten their roots in progressive rock.
I Am The Storm is Redemption’s conquest by finding the hidden tombs in ancient Egypt. And we have become the experts to explore the outcome with power, strength, and wisdom. And the results, are just riveting.
