Paul Hutchings takes a journey into the Reworking of Red Methods ‘For The Sick’

Produced by Scott Atkins and featuring guest appearances by Mikee Goodman (SikTh) and Jason Mendonca (Akercoke),For the Sickshould have been the catalyst for Red Method to plough a widefurrow across the UK metal scene. Released in February 2020, the band formed from Ted Maul, Meta-stasis and The Defiled had crafted a punishing chunk of metal, plenty of thundering riffs, deep groove infected breakdowns and a combination of guttural vocals, keyboards, and samples for a truly hybrid style. When I got stuck into the album back then, it was dominated by reference to Slipknot with the shadow of Iowa’s finest looming large. It was impossible to avoid but that didn’t diminish the intensity of the release in the slightest.

Thwarted by the global pandemic, Red Method have reworked For the Sick, reimagining the songs from that album and introducing a new track inSlaves To The New World Disorder.Mixed and mastered by Justin Hill (Ex-SikTh), the song sees Red Method moving to a political stance that they strived to avoid in previous releases. It’s impossible to step over the rotting corpse of 2020 without making some commentary, and Red Method have captured the social unrest, injustice and natural disasters that have been masked by Covid-19 in a ferocious, vitriolic five minutes. It spews bile towards the comments of multi-millionaire Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, who told the entire music industry to retrain. An industry that contributes over £5 billion per annum. How can you do anything but join Red Method in raising the collective middle finger to such utter contempt?

The Reworking of For the Sick delves deep into the band’s electronic influences. If you are searching for bone crushing riffs and 100mph speed metal, you’ve picked up the wrong album. But For the Sick–ReWorks does indeed work. Quite harrowingly well as it happens. The whole feel of the album has changed, but the fire remains burning brightly. From the start of Cycle of Violence, with its disparate feel, this album genuinely captures a mood which festers. Narcissists Prayer simmers with resentment. Ideology of the Sick opens with a techno feel before exploding into a maelstrom of electronica. In fact, each track contains something abstractly different to the original versions and whilst it doesn’t necessarily hit all the right notes for me, the sheer power created with the various samples and electronic interplay is formidable. In the current climate, any creativity should be applauded, and this album demonstrates the versatility that Red Method offer. With dates tentatively pencilled in for 2021, hopefully Red Method will finally get the opportunity to start ploughing

Red Method ‘For The Sick – ReWorks’ is due for release in February 2021