ALBUM REVIEW: For The Sick – ReWorks – Red Method

Remix albums are nothing new and plenty of bands have dabbled in them before, most notably LINKIN PARK when they released Reanimation back in 2002. Nevertheless, there’s something refreshing about this one from RED METHOD. The appropriately titled ‘reworked’ edition of their For The Sick debut leans heavily into electronica, resulting in a convincing glimpse into another reality where they’re a full-time industrial metal band. It’s a record that feels dirty, like the audio equivalent of crawling naked through an abandoned asylum littered with broken glass and used needles. And no, JAY-Z doesn’t turn up.

Recorded during the Coronavirus pandemic, this project was an outlet for a band who had the misfortune of releasing the original For The Sick just before the UK went into lockdown. The frustrations of not being able to tour are writ large here; For The Sick – ReWorks is dark, oppressive and occasionally even scary.

Ideology Of The Sick for instance is reinterpreted as a stuttering super-computer that just suffered a major malfunction and fused SLIPKNOT with Mike Patton into one screaming, cybernetic horror. It’s a glimpse into a world where guitars double as angle grinders and only gibbering psychotics in straightjackets are allowed into circle pits. Similarly, The Narcissist’s Prayer is a distinctly odd number that dials back the heavy but still manages to be uniquely unsettling. Patton’s influence is stamped all over this one, the crushing, methodical pace and ‘not right in the head’ vocals making for an atmospheric listen.

Adriel on the other hand has a melancholy vibe married to pulsing electronic beats. It’s reminiscent of COMBICHRIST at their most downbeat, while Messiah is larynx-shredding fury. Split belongs on the soundtrack to an alternate Terminator 2 where the T-1000 wins, and The Absent is an unhinged dubsteppy curtain-closer.
The song that’s likely to attract the most attention though is probably Slaves To The New World Disorder. It’s the only completely original track and sees RED METHOD at their most angry. Written as a furious reaction to the government’s tone-deaf advice to creatives to ‘re-train’ in the face of mass unemployment during the early days of the pandemic, it’s the heaviest cut on the album and the most in-line with their regular sound.

Their existing fanbase will want to lap it up and there’s a real chance of it showing up in their live shows. That’s less likely for the remixes of course, but even if most of these tracks never get played to a baying audience, RED METHOD can be very proud of what they’ve achieved here. For The Sick – ReWorks isn’t a pleasant forty-two minutes, but it shows their imaginations in freefall and the results are weirdly impressive.

Rating: 8/10

For The Sick – ReWorks is set for release on January 15th via self-release.

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