Album Review: Dog Tired – The Red Verse (Self Released)

For more than twenty years Edinburgh’s Dog Tired have been honing their craft, sharpening the cutting edges of their riffs, and fine tuning their engine of destruction. All the touring across the UK and Europe, all the festival appearances and four previous albums, have led to this – to The Red Verse. This is the sound of Dog Tired becoming all they have promised and it is out on June 2nd, 2023.

A band that needs little introduction if you’re a follower of the UK heavy metal scene, and beyond, Dog Tired have been grinding this axe for a long time and have built up a solid fanbase through solid album after solid album, and solid live show after solid live show. As sure as the sun comes up in the morning, Dog Tired can be guaranteed to deliver mammoth and meaty gold with each new release and with The Red Verse, they live up to all expectations, and then some.

Yes, this is the sound of a band at a creative high, at the zenith of their abilities, and showcasing no weakness in their sound at all. It’s an album that hits hard enough to bruise from the very start with Fracture and by time the filthy groove of the title track closes the album out, most will be feeling extremely tender and sore.

…but satisfied. Which is so important because the flurry of chunky groove, hectic riffs, pounding drums, and gruff vocals could easily send a listener into a battered stupor. Yet, Dog Tired’s incredible versatility in heavy sounds means that never happens. Each track as thrilling as the last, offering up an immense amount of depth. Dog Tired giving us thick riffs on Eyes of the Divine, energised groove on The Wall, wandering melody and epic heaviness on Relic, and instrumental ingenuity on Pillars of Phobos.

It doesn’t matter what track you pick; you’re going to find something special.

This is a banger album from a band that genuinely seems to get better and better with each release. The Red Verse is a remarkable album without a single track that can be called average or worse. It’s ten immense examples of this band’s abilities and everyone who loves metal will love it.

Dog Tired – The Red Verse Track Listing:

1. Fracture
2. Eyes Of the Divine
3. Of Severed Gods
4. The Wall
5. Mars
6. Relic
7. It Awaits
8. Godless Carrion Pit
9. Pillars of Phobos
10. The Red Verse

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