Christian hard rock band RED debuted their new album Of Beauty and Rage, this week, and so far the response from the album has been incredible. Also premiering on the same day was their music video for "Darkest Part" which helped propel RED into a huge launch.

The album is a bit of a concept record as it covers the topic of the darkness in people's lives and how they try to escape and fight against the demons holding them back. Each song is another trek along the storyline of beating "ourselves" as we stand in the way.

The album opens with the eerie instrumental "Descent," which sets the mood perfectly for the album as it flows into the opening full track "Imposter." The production on this track is superb as every tom hit on the drums, synth chords, and guitar shreds are perfectly heard with the alternating vocals and screams. This was the perfect song to introduce the album.

"Shadow and Soul" hits hard with heavy guitars before breaking into a quieter verse laden with synthy strings before building into a background screaming session. The interchanging parts of the song move seamlessly throughout the track that almost feels like more of a theatrical production rather than a solitary track.

Up next is the "Darkest Part." The song lives up to its name and feels all the emotion it name would suggest. The sound of the song is huge and the chorus infectious. They made the right choice in making this a single. Again, this song continues on that rock heavy production that adds a vibrant fullness to the song. On this track it serves to convey the angst of the "darkest parts."

"Fight to Forget" has a killer heaviness to it that moves consistently throughout and is overlapped by a nice string section with violins playing staccato's at certain points. The electric instruments drop completely out and an orchestral section along with a piano chimes in and serves as a beautiful musical pause before hitting heavy and then shocking with an acoustic drop out that leads right back into the full band. The ending of this song is incredible.

Next up is the first ballad of the album, "Of These Chains." This track is layered nicely with a light orchestral arrangement along with a piano. The vocalist Michael Barnes shows off the tenderness of his voice and his impressive soft range. "I'm breaking free but of these chains" serves as the powerful hook.

"Falling Sky" has one of the coolest openings of the entire album. This song substitutes many of the orchestral parts with more synth and electronic sounds. The dynamic between that and the guitars adds an almost futuristic industrial rock sound to the track. The build toward the middle of the song serves contrasting parts of heaviness and lightness, and draws the listener into the whole feel of the song.

"The Forest" is a pretty little interlude that almost splits the album in half. It feels like exactly its namesake. If the listener just closed their eyes and imagined running through a forest, this could be the soundtrack.

With a chorus as good as this one, it is no wonder "Yours Again" is a single off this album. "Open up my eyes, I need Your light again/Burning me inside/I need your love again" again speaks to the character of the story fighting past their demons and reaching out to God because of that lost connection. "Yours Again" is a song that hits on all cylinders.

"What You Keep Alive" comes in with the ferocity of a straight up metal song before easing back the reigns a bit. The chorus of the song comes flooding in over the blazing guitars and is coupled with screaming and singing vocals performing in harmony. The bridge of the song turns into a fluttery, dissonant, melodic segue before finishing off strong.

The crunch of the guitars continues over into "Gravity Lies" before entering the quiet calm of the first verse that has become sort of trademark for the band on this album. This song however, takes a screaming and driving prechorus before lighting the load a bit on the chorus. It is up and down as far tempo and overall sound. It is a welcome mixture that suits the song well.

"Take Me Over" stands out on this album, as it is the most different sounding, and has that radio pop/rock feel. The song escapes the heaviness of previous songs and also avoids the complete soft side of a ballad. The song has a single feel to it away from maybe a hard rock crowd, and still has a great sound despite standing out.

"The Ever" follows up with a pretty different sound as well, as it verges toward the lighter side with a big buildup for the chorus. The song is not very aggressive until the end when Barnes lets lose with the screams. This track is also where the album's title comes from as part of it is sung in the chorus.

Up next is "Part That's Holding." The song again has that radio rock feel to it with a big booming catchy chorus. The vocals and musical harmonies accompanying it are on point as this is one of the stand tracks on the album. The song speaks on the character having hope and being the "part that's holding on."

The closing track, "Ascent," puts a bookend on the album and concludes the musical companion of the entire record. The family orchestra comes back in along with the piano and quietly and peacefully resolves the rage of the album with beauty. The dichotomy of these warring elements of "rage" and "beauty" ends in that final track. The entire record leads up to that moment at the end, the good surpassing the evil.

(Photo : BREATHEcast)

Overall RED has an incredibly complex and put together album. Normally when rock bands add so many orchestral and synth arrangements to the music, the songs become cluttered and too produced. In this instance, RED's overproduction makes the music pop and have the feeling and emotion behind the story. It almost became essential to have that unique sound over the rock as it transitioned from song to song.

Of Beauty and Rage is for sure going to carry a ton of weight for this band as they created a near perfect record filled with all the things fans can come to expect from the band and yet equal parts ingenuity.

The album came out February 24 and can be purchased on iTunes.