{"id":23410,"date":"2014-09-10T00:00:04","date_gmt":"2014-09-10T00:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=23410"},"modified":"2015-01-27T15:03:01","modified_gmt":"2015-01-27T15:03:01","slug":"album-review-crucified-barbara-in-the-red","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-crucified-barbara-in-the-red\/","title":{"rendered":"CRUCIFIED BARBARA – In The Red (2014) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

CRUCIFIED BARBARA
In The Red<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nDespotz (2014)<\/span>
Rating: 8\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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In 2012, Swedish all-female quartet Crucified Barbara released its third opus, The Midnight Chase<\/em><\/a>. I wasn\u2019t exactly moved by that record as I found it a little on the tame side, and yet I was looking forward to instalment number four from these gals.<\/p>\n

In The Red<\/em> offers the listener 11 tracks, which appear a touch more meatier this time round, making this album the best these ladies have released since 2005 debut In Distortion We Trust<\/em>. <\/p>\n

Mixing some harder-edged, rough \u2019n\u2019 ready hooks with heaps of melody, In The Red<\/em> is led in high and mighty fashion by guitarist Mia Coldheart\u2019s husky rasp, which adds extra attitude and oomph to several of the catchy anthems on offer. She\u2019s aided by fellow axe-wielder Klara Force, bassist Ida Evileye and drummer Nicki Wicked \u2013 while the names may be a touch on the corny side, it seems that the girls have finally got their act together and upped the ante.<\/p>\n

The release opens with \u2018I Sell My Kids For Rock \u2018N\u2019 Roll\u2019; a stirring, stomping speedy track featuring a rollicking intro of flailing leads and surging riffs and those stabbing drums. Coldheart\u2019s vocals have that nice, hoarse bark to them, bringing a punchier aspect to proceedings. What I like about this record and that first track is the fact that Crucified Barbara has let fly from the off. As someone who spent my teenage years listening to the likes of Girlschool and The Runaways, it\u2019s fantastic to hear another troupe boasting attitude and aggression. Okay, so it\u2019s pretty basic at times, but it\u2019s delivered with such energy and passion that I cannot fault it.<\/p>\n

We then come to \u2018To Kill A Man\u2019, a truly apocalyptic chugger full of angst and darkness; the band steer way from routine here to speak about rape, and that shadowy subject is reflected perfectly via those overwhelming, churning guitars and Coldheart\u2019s earnest vocal cries. \u2018To Kill A Man\u2019 may be a stark contrast to \u2018I Sell My Kids For Rock \u2018N\u2019 Roll\u2019, but it exhibits the band\u2019s talent to vary their sound and remains one of the best songs I\u2019ve heard off any album this year. <\/p>\n

\u2018Electric Sky\u2019 ups the tempo again, however, with its metallic stomp and straight up rusted drive. While many felt that the band\u2019s last opus lacked bite, Crucified Barbara cannot be accused of that this time round. My only issue with this tune is the rather bland chorus after such a promising start, but the flaws are few and far between on In The Red<\/em>. \u2018The Ghost Inside\u2019 is another slow burner brought in on a dark riff before its eventual gallop, while \u2018Don\u2019t Call On Me\u2019 is a fetching slice of melodic metal again featuring catchy hook and speedier intentions. <\/p>\n

With an album boasting so many sturdy numbers, the title track does its job as being the pivotal moment and centre-piece with its bustling drum and Coldheart\u2019s rougher approach which leads into that punchy chanted chorus. It\u2019s the no nonsense \u2018Finders Keepers\u2019 which I adore the most, though; a sleazy, fiery brand of metal boasting a prodding percussive jab and that direct no frills chorus. <\/p>\n

In a sense, Crucified Barbara has become a simpler yet more aggressive animal, marrying a sort of punk rock energy into its already successful if previously somewhat lacking rock, although In The Red<\/em> is spot on in showcasing what the band has only promised on previous efforts. This time round the girls have finally hit the nail on the head and delivered a high octane metal composition.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CRUCIFIED BARBARAIn The Red Despotz (2014)Rating: 8\/10 In 2012, Swedish all-female quartet Crucified Barbara released its third opus, The Midnight Chase. I wasn\u2019t exactly moved by that record as I found it a little on the tame side, and yet I was looking forward to instalment number four from these gals. In The Red offers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[312],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crucified-barbara"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23410"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23416,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23410\/revisions\/23416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}