Shelter Red - Beast of the Field
Shelter Red is a rock band from Portland, Oregon. This group has derived a mixed-genre sound, featuring a plethora of influences that make the high-energy and heavy music they create truly special and unique. Today we are excited to share our thoughts on Shelter Red’s brand new EP, Beast of the Field, which was released on September 24, 2021!
The lead track from Beast of the Field is “Chained On a Burning Lake” and from the opening notes it is easy to get sucked in. The guitar work is absolutely epic here and the song as a whole gives off an awesome intensity, like a crucial fight scene in a movie or video game. Following at second is “Transgressour” which continues the riffage in an awesome way, though this track has a different feel to the one before it; this track reminds me of the kind of metal/hard rock music you would hear on the radio, sans lyrics, that would detail a personal struggle of sorts and I found a personal attachment to this track as a result which kept me coming back to listen to this one.
“Beast of the Field”, which shares its name with the EP, is the third track. This may be the strongest song from the EP and it does an excellent job of representing what this band and their newest EP is all about. My absolute favorite moment on the EP is the way that the guitar in the opening has a certain slide sound that sounds almost like a yelp - I have never heard anything quite like that before. The latter half of this track also strikes some emotional cords in a powerful way. The fourth track is “A Visual Nerve” and I absolutely love the crunchy bass performance in this track; the bass tone is absolutely perfect for a song like this and the way the bassline pairs with the guitar and drums in this track is perfect. For me, “A Visual Nerve” powerfully keeps up the high that “Beast of the Field” started.
The fifth song, “Far off and Fearful”, shares its intensity from the very opening moments, giving off this dark and quite foreboding atmosphere that fits its title extremely well. The final moments of this track have a bit of a chaotic - though triumphant - sounding nature to it before it fades out, something I found to be a very nice touch. Coming in at the sixth slot is “The Tempter”, which continues the dark atmosphere set up by the track before it in an immensely enjoyable way. Beast of the Field closes out with its longest track, “Eternal Paradise of Rest”, and it is an extremely powerful song to close the EP with. Progressing through multiple movements, this track has some jaw-dropping rises and falls, not only standing as an awesome way to end the EP but also standing out as a track I could see Shelter Red ending a live set with - this one is special for sure.
Unfortunately for Shelter Red, like many bands, the COVID-19 pandemic has interfered with their release plans; originally, Beast of the Field was supposed to come out as a completed package awhile back but due to the pandemic, the band instead released music from the EP over time; this did allow them to release the first four tracks as music videos, however, which I think did well to whet their fans’ appetites until they could finally release the entire EP a few days ago. Beast of the Field is truly epic and while each of its tracks can stand on their own, I enjoyed the EP the most as a complete package as the way it progresses through different themes is well-woven in the chosen track order.
You can keep up with Shelter Red through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and check out their music on Bandcamp, Spotify and Youtube. We have Beast of the Field embedded below via Spotify, give it a listen and send Shelter Red some love for the awesome EP they delivered!
