Five years after unleashing the impressive “Forest Of Chaos” in 2020, French Death Metal band RED DEAD are back with their third full-length album, “Paths Across The Graves”. With fourteen years of their running, these French maniacs continue to fly the flag for old school Death Metal, but “Paths Across The Graves” comes wrapped in a specific concept: the grim saga of ‘Red’, a hybrid creature battling through a wretched existence, discovering dark powers along the way. With Anthony handling guitars and vocals, Roger on guitars, Hughes on drums and Roolet on bass and also vocals, sound wise the quartet aims to deliver both raw aggression and atmospheric depth. As the jaw-dropping album cover gives away good hints, the band describes this as an intense exploration of rage, redemption, death and vengeance, aiming for a soundscape filled with crushing drums, sinister guitar melodies and vocals that cry out “from beyond the grave”. While their previous album, “Forest Of Chaos” was praised for its blend of traditional US Death Metal sound of OBITUARY and Swedish buzzsaw tones, combined with technical skill and groove, this record meant to balance this foundation with a more modern production output. Total eleven compositions clocking in at just over thirty-nine minutes, this record offers a varied listen that reflects the members’ diverse influences within the Death Metal spectrum and their songwriting capability. As apparent from the beginning number ‘The Burden Continues’, into ‘Toward The Torture’, ‘Corpse Riders’, ‘Skull Catacombs’, ‘Manhunt’, ‘Evil Genes’, ‘Land Of Wandering Souls’, ‘Fall Into The Dead’s Realm’ and ending with ‘Pathetic Side Of Humanity’, delivers atmosphere of dread and horrid mood the band intended. Despite the modern sounding crisp production, “Paths Across The Graves” has that old school intensity and atmosphere, which altogether makes this record a solid slab of Death Metal. If you enjoyed RED DEAD’s previous work or appreciate concept albums within the old school Death Metal framework, this latest record promises a compelling heavy listen. Find out more about the band and label at www.facebook.com/reddeaddeathmetal or www.facebook.com/greatdanerecords.