I've had this for a few weeks don't ask me how. Here's my review of it after digesting it for a while now:
Dark Red
I'll admit, at first listen, I was slightly disappointed; and then I listened to it again, and again, over and over and over. I was listening to this album ritualistically it seemed.
And then it hit me... this album is everything Bad Vibes wasn't. There is nothing similar to Bad Vibes that is what makes Dark Red. Sure there are the guitars and distortion, but the overall beauty of the record is of it's own.
If I could sum up Dark Red, it is an absolutely painful, destructive record, that plays with your emotions, it taunts you, laughing at everything that makes you angry and sad. This record is pure apathy. The picture that is painted is of an individual who has lost all hope and emotion; this person has turned into a monster. It is meant to be abrasive and grueling, it is meant to drain you and make you cry. It is meant to completely destroy you and take all emotion from you. It demands emotion to the point that you have none left to give.
If I could compare it to Bad Vibes, it would be that Dark Red is a true sequel to it, in respect that it continues the story where Bad Vibes left off. Bad Vibes was all about beautiful melancholy and Dark Red is a much older individual of Bad Vibes. It is a person who has grown bitter and pessimistic of everything. A person who sees no purpose in anything, a person who believes everything is mundane.
Bad Vibes was an impulsive record, everything seemed spontaneous, everything flowed naturally. Where as Dark Red, everything is incredibly precise and intricate. To me, Dark Red seems like the spiritual successor to "Fine, Thanks", but is the sequel to Bad Vibes. Dark Red is a record that must be played loudly and Bad Vibes is a record that is soft and gentle. While Dark Red's pessimism is prevalent throughout, at the very bottom of it lies a small fire, hope. Dark Red is a testament to how Shlohmo has become someone new, someone who has deeply matured. Dark Red is incredible and to see where Shlohmo goes from here is something I really look forward to.