Repaid In Blood

Repaid In Blood crushed the Caravan Lounge with A Morbid Curiosity and ‪In Death from Australia, when they kicked off the ‪#‎REPAIDINDEATHUSTOUR in San Jose, California -
Photos by Greg RaMar - Ramar Lumière Photography - AntiHero Magazine

Repaid In Blood always use popular culture and media to incorporate into their videos and music. Whether it is Game of Thrones or The Simpsons sampled into their songs, they always seem to delight their fans. So when they announced that their new singer was none other than Brett “Buzz” Makowski (36 Crazyfists, Skinlab), you knew they were going to do it as only they can, with an ode to Clerks! - Metalluminati

or Fans of The Red Chord, The Acacia Strain, Veil of Maya, Despised Icon, Born of Osiris, etc.

One thing I absolutely love about covering the Bay Area Metal Festival is the fact that I’m discovering a lot of great bands from the Bay Area. One that really stands out to me is Repaid in Blood, from San Jose (aka Taqueria Heaven). I dig their technical, yet chugalicious approach to metalcore; think of a young, more rhythm-oriented All Shall Perish with the guitar soloing skills of Zero Hour. I can’t wait to see how their sound progresses over the next couple of years and I’m definitely stoked to see these guys in action live at BAMF. We’ve got some tunes and a music video for you after the jump! - Wrecked Reviews

To be fair, death metal and metalcore have only ever been so-so genres for me. Bands playing these types of music (and RIB claims to play the best of both of these) generally don't impress me with some rare exceptions. I heard enough from them on an initial listen to determine they were worth my time to review, and that is saying something.

The album starts with a short intro that probably doesn't need to be included on the album. It is not a proper track and is mostly background for a sample. This brings me to my first complaint. The band uses too many samples (probably 4-5 through 6 songs and an intro), they do not bring anything to the music, and they tend to actually detract from what is happening musically. Check out track 4 and listen for the "salsa shark" sample to see what I mean by the samples breaking the momentum.

My second complaint is the lack of cohesion on the album. The band is kind of all over the place in terms of sounds within the above genres, varying time signatures, stop and start composition, and of course the samples. The second track epitomizes the worst of this. This track jumps so much, that it never really gets going. The band never really finds a spot for the song to be musically. There are multiple spots on the album, including twice on the fourth track, where the song sounds like it is done, but then starts again and carries on. This completely interrupts any momentum they have going.

Winter is Coming, the third track is one of the highlights of the album. It is a solid death metal track where the two vocalist do a great job of playing off of each other. There is solid drumming and guitar work. If you are a fan of death metal, this is the track to check out to see where the band can go with their sound. Track 6, Count Choculitis is the other song I would recommend checking out. The guitar work is more complex, more dynamic, and more interesting. It still lays over top of chugging guitars and a metal core sound, but it has enough going on to stay interesting. - Rage and Frustration