GRAMMY® nominated, RIAA Certified Gold®-selling alternative metal band RED releases its first full-length studio recording in three years, Rated R, Sept. 29th, 2023 from RED ENTERTAINMENT / The Fuel Music.

Consistently pairing sophisticated instrumentation with hard-hitting songwriting, dynamic performances and grippingly personal lyrics, RED’s evocative artistry takes center stage on its eighth studio album, Rated R.

The follow-up to 2020’s chart-topping DECLARATION, the first release on their own independent label, the thought-provoking new album finds the band tackling several resonant and relevant topics amidst centering on the ideological and interpersonal divisions, confrontations and suffering of modern society.

1. Surrogates
2. Your Devil Is A Ghost
3. Minus It All
4. Cold World
5. Tell Me How To Say Goodbye
6. The Suffering
7. Still Bleeding
8. Our Time Will Come
9. Last Forever
10. Emergency

The album opens on the thunderously dark Surrogates and the melodically-charged Your Devil Is A Ghost and then we get the pulsating tremors within Minus It All, the sweepingly galvanic Cold World, and then comes the sweepingly rhythmic Tell Me How To Say Goodbye.

On an album where they had admitted they are going back to the 1890s Old West, because it’s the prequel to the entire series of recordings thus far made, along next is the head pounder The Suffering and the alt-rock metal soar of Still Bleeding, and they are in turn backed by the impassioned Our Time Will Come, the soaring Last Forever, the album closing on the clenched fist angst of Emergency.

“We’re examining how there’s almost no authentic human interaction and empathy anymore,” guitarist Anthony Armstrong explains. “People jump online to be and say whatever they want. They talk without listening, and it results in bullying and violence. Plus, we lose so much by focusing 24/7 on technology instead of stripping away everything that doesn’t matter and seeing how beautiful and healing it is to live with only what’s necessary.”

Bassist Randy Amstrong agrees: “Traditional family values and systems are broken and it’s causing chaos. Kids are forced to do active shooter drills at school, and it breaks our hearts. As the saying goes, hurt people hurt people, and we’re definitely seeing that. There’s also the notion that we learn by suffering and making the wrong decisions. As philosopher Meister Eckhart stated: ‘The soul does not grow by addition but by subtraction.’”

These sentiments influenced the sequencing and meta qualities of RATED R, as well as the album cover that represents the fake, almost plastic versions of humanity.

“It’s RATED R for RED and we always try to be a bit provocative to get our audience thinking with how our records look and what they’re called,” says Randy.

www.thebandred.com

Official Purchase Link

RED - Surrogates [Official Video]

RED @ Facebook