Red Sea
Blood
Reviewed by Doug Van Pelt
Every so often you run into a singer with "that voice." He or she has that God-given ability to shake loose all the power a song can muster. Robyn Kyle of Red Sea has one such voice. Put him with a powerhouse songwriter and guitarist like Chris Howell and you've got a deadly combination. I hear David Coverdale's got his old lineup of Whitesnake back together...Well, he better write some great songs, because Red Sea is settin' the standards now.
"Wolves at the Door" is a classic performance that lives up to the old blues standards of lots of groove, good story tellin' and delivered with true blues soul. What's great about this song is that this description could fit both the vocal and guitar delivery! I bet Chris smiles when he plays tunes like this. Songs like this and "Hellbound Train" tell tales that expound on the simpler points of the Gospel (ie. the brokenness of sin and the reality of Hell). Not one to rip off his influences, but to truly incarnate them, Red Sea does it all up with its closing number - a heartfelt Gospel song called "Tears of Joy" - complete with some female background singers.
Fans of the red-hot hard rock of Guardian and Bride are gonna feel like they made a new best friend.