Red Mourning was born in Paris (France) in 2003, when pure luck brought four unlikely metalheads together:
- AAA, the straight-edge bluesman;
- BBB, the ex-DJ;
- CCC, the animal-rights activist;
- and DDD, the orchestra percussionist (under-age at the time).
They quickly realized they saw music the same way. Whatever they played was going to be sincere, innovative, and most of all, a way to let the accumulated trauma of their lives explode on stage.
Together, they started roaming the Paris underground scene, with its share of fights, and even the occasional gunshot. The self-taught four-piece also hung out as much as possible at local sound-engineering schools, recording demo after demo. These experiments soon yielded a 3-track SP (2004), and a 6-track EP (2006), both today sold-out.
Gradually, the band developed a genuine personality. What was just four chunks of strong musical character was now turning into a well-honed war-machine. Each band-member brings his own personal influences to the mix: hardcore punk, Chicago blues, grunge, old- and new-school death metal… The result is a sound that is unique in today’s metal scene. How many other bands out there combine blast-beats, Blues harp, sludge, and vocal harmonies (to name just the most obvious elements)?
Red Mourning keep pushing their own boundaries, and devote heart and soul to their music. So it was only a matter of time before this creative discipline gave birth to “Time To Go”, the band’s first LP. Its lyrics are introspective and dark, dealing with being unable to escape your past, death, or life’s lack of meaning.
Red Mourning chose Francis Caste, France’s N°1 metal-expert, to handle the record’s production. They spent six long weeks locked up in his Paris studio. The result sounds like it came straight out of a Delta swamp… After all, Red Mourning got their name from the slaves’ mourning color. The sound itself is best described as “moist”, and gives the tracks an oppressive and organic feel.
The songs themselves combine groove with violence. The album’s occasional quiet moment just makes the rest punch that much harder. Song-structures range from chaotic (“Live in a box”) to straight-forward (“A hundred years”), and from slowly constructed (“Time to go”) to methodically destroyed (“Rolling thunder”).
The instrumental composition reveals itself over time. The rhythmic foundation is technical without being pretentious. On top of that comes a big fat layer of aggressive and sometimes discordant riffing. Then, the distinctive vocals, with hardcore screams and vocal melodies often backed two, three, or even four times.
Naturally, the Red Mourning sound wouldn’t be complete without a few sharp guitar solos, and some wailing Blues harp. While very unusual in a metal context, the harmonica seems like an obvious choice here. The finishing touch is a brief honky-tonk boogie on “Child of the storm”, proving once again that the band has its roots deep down in the Blues.
Red Mourning’s debut album is due for March/April 2008, on Bad Reputation Records.