Red Fist Revolution - The Fall Of Goliath

Red Fist Revolution
The Fall Of Goliath
©2011 YoungSide Records
www.redfistrevolution.com
www.youngside.com

Taken right from their own website: “Red Fist Revolution: The Fall of Goliath is a fully 4-D audio-visual experience. This Revolutionary rock-opera combines elements of live music, video storytelling, and the pageantry one would expect in a Broadway musical. The music is catchy and diverse, ranging from punk rock to acoustic ballads, from techno and metal to funk-rock anthems. The performance is geared towards audience participation; Participants are encouraged to sing, clap, and stomp along with the Red Fist Revolution. The story begins in the trenches of resistance against Goliath, struggles through Post Traumatic Stress, assimilation, and the movement’s defeat. At his lowest point our hero, Trooper Chrysalis, connects with a new hope and is transformed by the Red Fist Revolution. Having become a new creation, Chrysalis works to shed his old ways and embrace a new lifestyle of resistance. Together with the RFR, Trooper Chrysalis struggles to overthrow Goliath and free the world from physical and spiritual bondage. This revolutionary rock-opera then culminates with the march to Valhalla, the New Jerusalem, where the streets will be made of gold.”

The opener, “Down In The Valley”, is a solid rocker. The second song, “The Bomb” seems transitional in its’ makeup, like that of a rock opera inclusion. Strong rock tracks with good melodic lines and hooks are “Can’t Stop” and “Drowning Again”. Another song of interest is “30 Pieces”, a quasi-militant song referring to Judas’ betrayal of Jesus. The disc closes with an interesting combination of songs, “Marching to Valhalla” and “New Jerusalem”, in which the former implies reference to marching to that “hall of the slain” as used in Norse mythology, then appears to possibly raise the dead and bring them to “New Jerusalem”, meaning heaven.

Having listened to this a number of times now, I have to give props to the creativity involved in this project. This is as far as I can stretch myself. Though I applaud that it is completely recorded on a ’06 iMac using GarageBand, in a DIY approach, it does not translate fluidly to finished product. This appears to be Ben Stewart’s project and vision, yet seems scatter brained and a feels a bit plastic in its’ delivery. Maybe I’m particularly fond of the full band concept, but just too many musical elements are used for my taste, and hence too much going on from track to track. When a musician develops a project from their computer, if not careful, it can be rather easy to use everything located around the kitchen sink in its’ mix.

7 of 10 clicks
thecannyshark
August 2011