Dog Tired - The Red Verse - Metal Epidemic

Dog Tired – The Red Verse
Release Date: 3rd June 2023
Label: Self Released
Bandcamp
Genre: Metal, Groove Metal.
FFO: Entombed AD, High on Fire, The Haunted, Gojira.
Review By: Mark Young

Edinburgh four-piece Dog Tired bring you The Red Verse, their 5^th full length album, for your delight and delectation. They have name checked some absolute titans in an effort to give you an indication of where their sound lies, and I’m excited to hear this. Let’s go!

From the outset this is powerful stuff with Fracture coming in guns blazing and no quarter given following a suitably grandiose introduction, the drums just explode, and the guitars follow. This is a statement of intent right here.

Eyes of the Divine changes it slightly with some tight riffing and bendy movements that combined with the vocals smack of Gojira right in the face. It’s pretty good stuff, with the measured tempo offering an effective change from Fracture.

Of Severed Gods is back to that stomp, stomp speed, drumming is on point in keeping things anchored as the chord stabs are dropped amongst the full pelt riffing. The end is just spot on, excellent stuff.

The Wall has this dense sound and keeps the labyrinth riffs going in a song that just doesn’t stop going for the throat – head nodding stuff with some extreme and razor-sharp riffing going on. There is some neat Mastodon stuff in here too, which is always great to hear.

With Mars, there is a subtle change in approach, triplets are on the menu here, and it is wonderful to hear as they change gear without losing the immediacy of how the song started. It’s got that epic live track written all over it and has got a break in it that would be so cool to play. If a song makes me want to play it, then it is a winner. Relic comes in with an atmospheric start, falling rain and an acoustic opening that keeps building to allow a breather for the remainder of the album to follow. At the last minute, the electric kicks in with some harmony guitars that launch into It Awaits, which takes no time in kicking the restful peace that preceded it to the kerb. This one just rips, absolutely rips, and will no doubt cause some pits to open up spontaneously. The break will cause people to lose their minds live, it is some seriously good stuff!!!!

Godless Carrion Pit is a sprawling beast of a thing, with some more of that low end chugging that sounds like the end of the world. The blast beats that come in take it into new realms as Pillars of Phobos take the slow, restrained road from the start, and it is a mad mix of Mastodon and Megadeth in that initial phase before they kick it in with a late 80s style riff out that takes a trip through some great musical themes. It is arranged well, but possibly could have done with a bit of pruning, as instrumentals can suck a bit of life out of the songs that precede them.

And this leaves the last song, The Red Verse, to close things out. The grinding riff, double bass all working their magic to ensure that they finish on a high here. It’s a brutal thing to behold that doesn’t seem as the long as the track length suggests. It’s tight, heavy and a supreme album closer. Well in!!

They manage to combine their influence without it being fully recognisable if that makes sense. The way they blend is incredibly effective to deliver a sound that is theirs and theirs alone. With festival season upon us, if you get the chance to catch them live you should do, because they do Metal. And they do it very, very well.