Red Chord
Prey For Eyes
By Max Deneau

While the Red Chord’s last offering, Clients, introduced a more thoroughly ironed out writing style, increasingly impenetrable technicality and polished production from Zeus, some of the spontaneity of their landmark debut was lost. Prey For Eyes, while not a regression in any sense of the word, makes it painfully clear why this Massachusetts powerhouse owns, and will always own, the championship belt for the “deathcore” genre they helped popularise. Distancing themselves further from generic slams and vocalist Guy Kowalycz’s more death/grind-influenced vocals, increased airtime is devoted to unbridled experimentation. “It Came From Over There” features a near-psychedelic moog pattern courtesy of Sigh’s Mirai Kawashima, alternating with a bowel-churning Florida death metal groove. At other points, comparatively stripped down hardcore fury and a touch of sludge are allowed to take the forefront, though the record never loses its balance or juxtaposes one too many intricacies for its own good. Not just an improvement on Clients but arguably the greatest effort in their catalogue, Prey For Eyes is an accomplishment to be proud of.

Your last release had an intriguing concept to go along with it. What conceptual template does Prey For Eyes follow, if any?
Guy Kowalycz: If there’s a theme on this album it’s less the subject matter and more the lyrical style, which flows with the experimentation and progression in the music. There are lots of double and triple meanings going on. For instance, one of the songs [features] a story about videogames, Genghis Khan and the Mongols, and a neighbourhood parking dispute. On this record, the influences were very sporadic and random — dreams, books, movies, random conversations, essays and debates.

Prey For Eyes seems to reintroduce and strengthen your more technical side. How did this come about?
When we started writing, the goal was to write the most aggressive, heavy record we could. The deeper we got into the writing, the more experimental and technical the record became. [However], one thing we’ve always focused on is keeping the “song” intact. There are tons of bands that can play more complicated stuff than us. Honestly, Psyopus has won that competition. We aren’t even trying to compete in the “most tech band ever” game. (Metal Blade)
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