Style: prog metal, heavy prog, djent, hard rock (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Avenged Sevenfold, Muse, VOLA
Review by: Andy
Country: Canada
Release date: 2 June 2023
The easily argued GOAT of power metal, Blind Guardian, introduced me–and countless others, no doubt–to the world of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time book series. Blind Guardian’s incredible, jaw-droppingly bombastic closer to their 2010 album At the Edge of Time beautifully pays homage to a fantasy series fourteen (kinda fifteen) books long in all its epic glory. I know of a couple other Wheel of Time themed songs in metal, pretty much all power metal, but Red Cain break the mold, bringing Jordan’s high fantasy world into the sleeker world of modern prog metal. Can Red Cain hope to break out of Blind Guardian’s huge shadow for Wheel of Time metal, or does the series better translate to power metal?
To relay some of the best storytelling ever (which is objectively true and anybody who disagrees can let me know in the comments that they’re stupid), Red Cain play a hefty–sometimes djenty–hard rock with a strong emphasis on vocal melodies and several proggy flourishes. “Fisher King” kicks things off with a great rock sensibility not too far off something like Avenged Sevenfold, and as the track organically mutates, the buildup satisfyingly allows for some badass, epic moments, culminating in a vocal bit reminiscent of Muse at their best. In the middle of “The Fisher King,” the weighty vocalization of the word “betrayer!” cleverly weaves into the album’s best guitar solo which then transitions into a downright massive chorus–nice and heavy without relying on the djent patterns of later tracks. “Blight” incorporates little bass and guitar ornamentations that sound a tad like Animals as Leaders, and “We Are Chaos” starts a bit like VOLA.
Throughout Näe’Bliss, singer Evgeniy Zayarny routinely changes up his style from the Muse-ish parts already mentioned to lilting falsettos that are surprisingly great to attempts at a more gothic operatic tone like in “We Are Chaos”–the last of which falls a bit short unfortunately. Red Cain continually evolve during the album, a necessity as the djentier backbone would otherwise become tiring. However, with bassist Kalie Yan providing additional vocals, both clean and harsh, in addition to Red Cain’s several attempts at orchestrating and introducing electronica elements, Näe’Bliss never falls into the trap of being overly predictable, and many of the songwriting tricks reap their rewards.
Oftentimes, the experiments don’t work out quite as well as anticipated. The hazy synth intro to “The Great Hunt” flickers along ungracefully, but Red Cain don’t fumble the ball for too long as the tremendously heavy riff immediately afterwards brings me great pleasure. Another complaint is that the harsh vocals are misplaced or underperformed just as often as they provide a nice counterpoint to the cleans. Their mixing–the album’s mixing in general–leave a lot to be desired. During more involved and layered parts like the mini epic closer “Fires of Heaven” as well as “Fisher King,” I lose track of the backing textures. Perhaps the loud nature during the climaxes is for the best as the orchestration never sounds particularly luxurious or full–it’s clearly just synths–but I’d love to hear a bit more of what’s going on underneath the riffs, drums, and vocals. Kalie Yan’s bass, for instance, is pretty rad when it’s present in the mix.
I really like this album even if it’s not perfect, and I think it’s a great change of pace from the normal power metal fantasy tropes. It rocks hard, consistently delivers interesting ideas, and vastly exceeds my expectations for anything tagged with the dreaded “groove metal.” On a follow up album, I think Red Cain should lean more heavily into their proggier elements as well as find a more balanced mix, but Näe’Bliss gets my (highly coveted) stamp of approval!
Recommended tracks: Fisher King, The Great Hunt, Fires of Heaven
You may also like: Sunbeam Overdrive, Neurotech, Ihlo
Final verdict: 7/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Official Website | YouTube | Facebook | Instagram | Metal-Archives Page
Label: Sliptrick Records – Bandcamp | Facebook | Official Website
Red Cain is:
– Kalie Yan (bass, vocals)
– Tyler Corbett (guitars)
– Evgeniy Zayarny (vocals)
– Taylor Gibson (drums)
– Samuel Ridout (guitars)
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