Band:	Red Fang
Album:	Whales And Leeches
Style:	Stoner rock, Stoner metal
Release date:	October 2013

01. Doen
02. Blood Like Cream
03. No Hope
04. Crows In Swine
05. Voices Of The Dead
06. Behind The Light
07. Dawn Rising
08. Failure
09. 1516
10. This Animal
11. Every Little Twist
12. Murder The Mountains [limited edition bonus]
13. Black Water [limited edition bonus]

I don't listen to Red Fang much anymore. Getting thrown out of one of their shows in Portland for "being too drunk" * played a key role in one of those extraterrestrially brutal and lingering hangovers I imagine old on-the-wagon-ites like to talk about. And I really do mean "lingering." It's to this day, roughly two years later, made putting on Murder The Mountains, one of my former go-to drinking soundtracks, a trigger for headaches and embarrassment. It's a real motherfucker.

That's why the following is going to happen. Alcohol and Red Fang fit together snugly, so I'm going to A: get drunk (6 pack of Milwaukee's best + 24 ounces of a Strawberry-Watermelon Blast by Colt 45) then B: attempt to write 250+ coherent words regarding this album here. It's the only way I'm going to be able to make it through because, basically, Whales & Leeches is Murder The Mountains 1.5:

---

Red Fang play stoner hard rock/metal and their from where I was born. They are from Portland, Oregon. Drinking where I need Red Fan playing sometimes is like this
P2:
P3:
Conclude:

---

Wasn't in a state to finish.

What I was about to say is that their brand of rock is easily digestible. It's not atmospheric and challenging like some stoner and stonerish stuff out there, but it's not banal. Yeah their formula is simple, but it's simple with as many cool, catchy riffs as you need for a good day. It's solid mid-paced rock/metal to throw on while relaxing and the like.

These guys haven't changed much, in other words. If you enjoy their first couple albums, you'll enjoy this. We didn't get a brand new Red Fang sound here, just a nice minor update.

That said, that minor update does in some ways mark a clear improvement for them; their sound is creamier (check out the first single off this, "Blood Like Cream") and the overall ambiance is a bit thicker. Nothing about it is really abrasive or dark or any other kind of metal adjective. It's just plain and smooth. But in a good way.

What I was trying to say in my review is that these guys write groovy Rock and they play said Rock hard (but not too hard). If that sounds tedious or heard-it-before, take it or leave it. But I'd seriously consider taking it. The impression that Red Fang are mostly famous for their schlubbiness and their music videos is fair to an extent I suppose, but considering the fact that they're making some of the better stripped down Rock/Metal around, who cares? They probably don't and you probably shouldn't.


* (my friend, who got tossed out shortly after I did, called me a half hour or so later adamant that he was outside his house in Eugene, 100+ miles away from where we were... it was one of those nights)