Style: Progressive metal (mixed vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Between the Buried and Me, Rush, Dream Theater, Others By No One
Country: UK
Release date: 29 May 2026

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One of the biggest threats to modern music, as we’ve written about in the past, is so-called ‘AI’. Our legal department barred my more partisan remarks in my essay, but this is my review so I can say that I think we should arrest most Silicon Valley CEOs, and anyone who enabled this technology, put them on a rocket, and launch them into the sun to appease the climate change gods. Already we’ve seen AI psychosis spiral into a cult, a number of murders and suicides linked to chatbot use, staggering rates of misinformation (some of which is purposefully manufactured), people entering into relationships with chatbots, and we have emergent technofascism plus the environmental toll to look forward to as well. Prog has always had an affinity for sci-fi concepts, but while in the past, they launched fully into robots and existential threat, bands are beginning to catch up with the unflashy reality of our current techno-dystopia. Recent examples include Only Human’s machine-sentience focused debut, Computer Nerd’s technoerotica, and The Paradox Twin’s blurring of real and artificial worlds. 

So what’s another to add to the pile? British Bathonians Redshift are a trio who now have a troika of albums to their name with the release of Down the Wire, a concept album set in a world where everything is made by generative AI. Combining the scattershot compositional style of Between the Buried and Me with a gloss of Rush, the Somerset set explore the artificiality and blandness of such a world, and the journey of a man who seeks to tear the supremacy of the algorithmic overlords down. 

At the outset, vocalist Liam Fear’s reedy cleans have a touch of Geddy Lee but clearly lack power, range and often sound a little flat—the harmonies tend to sound warbly. At best, they’re tolerable, at worst they’re an active impediment to the band. His growls meanwhile are a passable copy of Tommy from BTBAM but are hardly a standout. Oddly, in the latter half of the album, he seemingly changes voice, opting for a lower delivery on “The Rogue” and, for more comic purposes, a raspy voice on “The Clown” which—[sigh]—we’ll deal with in due course. It’s a slightly more compelling vocal style, all things considered with more punch than his steady Geddy affectation.

Instrumentally, the band do play their arses off, and the prominence of Fear’s bass—another Geddyism that I’m far more willing to praise—in the mix is a genuine delight. Meanwhile, Jack Camp masters the kit, altering his sense of groove and feel while barraging every percussive thing in sight. “The Machine” sees the band at their best, offering up a spacey riffs and synths, an ominous vocoded passage, and some jazzy soloing all held together by a strong sense of compositional flow—something you don’t often get from Between the Buried and Me-influenced bands. It’s easily the most complete and focused track on the record. 

Elsewhere, the BTBAM erraticism often undermines the sense of flow as ideas appear for a few phrases before being jettisoned forever, leading to a stitched-together sense of ideas that don’t tonally match. An extended wacky instrumental section on “The Redemption” really highlights the “Cockroach King” zaniness that Redshift often aim for, somewhat misguidedly. Down the Wire often feels more like a selection of instrumental breaks stitched together, rather than flowing composition. Still, when the band hit their stride, they deliver: the solo sections in particular, such as Tiago Martins’ erratic shred on “The Singer” or the wild instrumental journey on “The Rogue”, which sees funk guitar rhythm dance its way into a samba mode as riffs and solos spasmodically mutate. “The Rogue” caps off the section with some blaring trumpet courtesy of John Hare who’s backed by a goddamn blast beat.

Unfortunately, even Redshift’s best work lacks a certain sense of weight. While Ben Scott Turner’s mix represents each player with loving clarity, the utilitarian approach strips a lot of the bite out of the heavier sojourns of the band, and there’s a distinct lack of cinema suffusing Down the Wire. A bit more punch would really bring the instrumentals to life. 

While lyrics aren’t the most important aspect of music for a lot of people, we do need to cross that bridge now because Redshift’s lyricism is some of the worst I’ve heard for a while. Part of me assumes that Redshift are aiming for a level of satire whereby the lyrics are intentionally bad because they’re meant to emulate the summit of what generative AI can create—if that’s the case, great job! But I think that might be generous. To illustrate this point, here’s one long section from “The Machine”: 

Radio/To the TV/To the Ad breaks/To the IP/To the streamers/To the gamers/Down the wire/A-list/influencers/every race and/Every gender/In the newsreel/And the papers/Down the wire/The Machine/Upload/Download/Unload/Reload/Explode/Mistake/ Headache/Remake/Lunch break/Fuck sake/The futures pre-made/Discriminate incriminate/Validate incinerate/Orchestrate and dictate/Manipulate and spectate/Pacify, neutralise/Tranquilise, Hegemonise/Demonise, ostracise/Cauterise, dehumanise 

It’s a selection of words that rhyme in different combinations and largely ends up meaningless, a rote recitation of vaguely digital speak, as well as throwing in silly randomness like ‘Lunch break/fuck sake’. And yet “The Machine” somehow isn’t Down the Wire’s nadir. That accolade goes to “The Clown”:

Clowns/They’re the clowns/He’s a clown/She’s a clown/It’s a clown/That’s a clown/Who’s a clown?/You’re a clown/Now/In our show/A new viral/Short video/Premium content/At half the price/You the connoisseur/Shall get a slice/Don’t forget/Like and subscribe/Our next show/Is going live

Delivered in a rasping comedy voice over a punk riff, the song is as zany as possible, even featuring a banjo-like tone and a comedy outro standard—if you like that sort of thing, good for you, but it speaks to a tonal inconsistency. Redshift veer between Rush and BTBAM style, between sincerity and wackiness, and to a degree this makes it hard to work out what they want Down the Wire to be. 

Ultimately, Redshift contrast strength and weakness in frustrating measure: strong instrumental work meets meek vocals; weighty riffs are undercut by a neutered low-end; and their techno-dystopia doesn’t know whether it wants to be heartfelt or satirical. Still, generative AI could never make an album like Down the Wire because to suffer from flaws is to have potential that those flaws mar, and I need Redshift to realise their potential because we share a dream: to tear down this emergent techno-dystopia and be free.

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Recommended tracks: The Machine, The Rogue
You may also like: The World is Quiet Here, Framing Skeletons, Sound Struggle
Final verdict: 5/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Pale Wizard Records

Redshift is:
– Liam Fear (vocals, keyboard, bass)
– Tiago Martins (guitar)
– Jack Camp (drums)

With guests:
– John Hare (trumpet and flugelhorn)
– Derek Sherinian (keyboard on “The Rogue”)