RED MESS ~ HI-TECH STARVATION .... review

Red Mess, Thiago Franzim (guitar), Douglas Labigalini (drums) and Lucas Klepa (bass/vocals), started their musical journey in Londrina, Brazil but after what the band describe as "a decade of messing around" decided to relocate to Europe, the trio finally settling on Berlin, Germany as the base for their operations. A few of you out there will already be familiar with the band thanks to the EP's "Crimson" (2014), "Drowning In Red" (2015) and "Phantom Limb" (2022) as well as their full length releases "Into The Mess" (2017) and "Breathtaker" (2022), the latter of which we reviewed on these very pages. For those not up to speed with the band however Red Mess jam a blend of rock styles that has led the band to describe themselves as "not your regular alternative grunge psychedelic progressive sludge post-punk hardcore groove garage crimson crooked stoner rock band". This month (August 2025) sees Red Mess releasing their third full length album "Hi Tech Starvation" (Noisolution) a collection of tunes from a band who have a history of delivering ass-kicking groove'n'roll of real quality

"Huntress" kicks things off, a fuzz heavy opus that's part grungy metal and part off-centred desert rock with those grungy elements leaning more towards Alice In Chains than they do Soundgarden and the desert rock part of the deal coming more from a Queens of the Stone Age angle than a Kyuss one. Vocals over this song are delivered in clean and slightly cracked tones that although are not especially powerful are nonetheless both impressive and effective. Following number "Inexistant Colours" finds Red Mess for the most part operating in Nirvana-esque loud/quiet/loud territory around a similarly up and down vocal but then sees the band shifting into a more traditional rock groove for the songs final quarter, this section of the song enhanced with searing bluesy lead work. "Ransomware" is a song that straddles territory somewhere between punk rock and its close cousin hardcore, the vocals here a touch more visceral and raw, the guitar tones a touch more waspish and the rhythms a tad less pummelling, well that is up until just around the five minute mark when out of the blue things take a stoner-doomic turn and we are presented with thick slabs of dank riffage and pounding percussion supporting monastic flavoured vocal incantations. Next song "Intravenous" is an unusual but engaging blend of heavy psych and stoner/desert rock salted with totally unexpected elements of Oasis flavoured Brit-pop in its vocal inflections while its follow up "Xenon", an instrumental, is full on Kyuss worship. Penultimate tune "Kind Villain" is deliciously rowdy and rocking, this also carries a little Oasis styling in the vocal department. Final song, "Uncanny Valley" is a shapeshifting behemoth with grooves that constantly sway between stoner-metallic and grungy beneath vocals that one minute boast a throaty stoner-ish dynamic and the next are being delivered in a buoyant rap-like meter, as closing numbers go this is a MONSTER!

Banging from its opening note to its last Red Mess' "Hi-Tech Starvation" is a delightfully eclectic blend of raucousness, restraint and accessibility, an album that will delight "grungers" and "metalheads" alike...as well as all those who fall in-between. 

Check it out .... 

© 2025 Frazer Jones