Brimming with unbridled intensity, Canadian metalcore band Stasis partners with No Sleep Records for their newest release Six Shades of Red. The album pulls from current and 2010’s era metalcore in a punishing and competent album flowing with rage, groove, and feel.
The opener “Distant Glow” is a fitting mission pitch. Beginning with a spacious echo, the track layers on dissonant riffing that is overcome by a pounding rhythm section – all building to an explosive breakdown. Immediately, drummer Cliff Aubut is leading a sonic charge. Transitioning from punk rhythms to bouncy metalcore grooves, the track encapsulates the sound that expands throughout the remaining tracks. First single “Finding Solace in the Black” thrashes forward from an opening drum fill to a driving verse section with vocalist Callum Reid’s rasp crawling through the wall of sound. The rough is then washed over by the melodic chorus backed by a bouncy instrumental. Tempers cool as “Untitled” grooves with prodigious drumming and glitchy production, allowing for a brief calm in between storms. The next track, “Trespasser” evokes a Counterparts air of intensity – calling out those taking up too much space. Reid snarls over a blast beat in the intro leading into frenetic guitar riffing that halts into a halftime breakdown.
Throughout the record, Stasis succeeds in varying moods and tempos just enough to stop and start the emotional resonance of the compositions. Thought-forward spoken pieces are scattered through areas of brief calm, allowing the ferocity of the heavy tracks to be continuously blunt. Highlight “Mend My Wounds in My Sleep” begins with a drum groove as Reid’s soft vocals weave in and out of material – providing an ethereal quality to the track. Guitarist Colton Douglas adds a steady arpeggiated riff that fills into grunge-toned chords. Aubut’s tight drumming tethers the track until a midway climax with Reid’s screams ricocheting through the previously empty space exclaiming “I am not alive, but I have yet to die”. Third single and title track “Six Shades of Red” wastes no time picking the pace back up to controlled chaos. The chants of “RED” throughout the track are hooky and powerful, a clear live standout. The following contrast “Veins Like Ivy” sits word forward, harkening to Lost Isles era Oceans Ate Alaska.
Stasis never dials down the intensity, only ever changing its form. Words cut when instrumentals step back and dense instrumentals speak alongside the gritty vocals. While they wear their influences on their sleeve, Six Shades of Red fires on all cylinders – delivering an all-around record to a much needed modern metalcore scene.
