RED EP

And here we go with take two, Red, or the colour of anger, rage, living (pulsing, circulating) blood in veins. And so is this album, it simply rocks, pushes forward with a lively vigor, shorter than most of others, with no time to try new stuff, just doing plain old Rock (or Hard Rock if you wish), which kind of lack from Prog's point of view, but I suppose it goes on with the job, you simply can't make pears from apples and so in such emotion, there have to be some kind of pace (fast pace), instead it won't work. The most reminiscent song (of Act's) would be Deny It All.

'Red EP' - The Dear Hunter (6/10)

The second in The Dear Hunter's most ambitious project yet, the 'Red EP' is a collection of four songs meant to represent that colour. When it was announced that this band was going to make a nine-album project about every colour on the spectrum, some people- including myself- were doubtful that they would manage to pull it off. Here they are however, with all of them released for people to enjoy and listen. Although the project as a whole is a major achievement, it's virtually assumed that not every 'colour' would be excellently represented. Although the 'Black EP' had a consistent record of strong songwriting and experimental edge, 'Red EP' comes off feeling less memorable, and even tame by comparison. The colour red is generally seen as a colour of anger, but the tone of the music here comes across more as frustration rather than rage.

As is typical for The Dear Hunter, the music fuses modern alternative rock/pop with progressive tendencies, and it comes off sounding adventurous and fresh. Usually, The Dear Hunter are focused on creating epic album,s but these EPs work best as collections of songs. For an EP that is supposed to be about anger, the music is remarkably catchy. The highlight 'Deny It All' has a great hook that stayed in my mind long after the EP was first over. Musically speaking, 'Red' is not particularly heavy or aggressive, but it has a more straightforward rock feel to it. It's not an approach that works particularly well for The Dear Hunter, although Casey Crescenzo's acrobatic vocals and warm arrangements are still here. This more rock-based energy would continue into the third EP, 'Orange'. 'Red' is one of the weaker albums in this vast project, but it offers some great hooks along the way.