“24 Redux” is the latest release by Russell Murray, an outstanding solo artist based in Nutley, New Jersey. It’s his first piece of work in 2025, arriving as an adequate follow-up to “All Tricks, No Treats,” a critically acclaimed full-length album released last year that you should also check out as soon as possible. Lyrically, Russell Murray explores different sentiments, moods, situations, and circumstances through profoundly detailed, storytelling lyricism. Therefore, it’s highly relatable material that will immediately resonate with the broader audience. Inspired by renowned bands like Slipknot, Bring Me The Horizon, and Bad Omens, his music explores and examines fundamental elements of modern metal music. Still, don’t be surprised if you stumble upon some of the finest properties borrowed from hardcore, post-hardcore, post-metal, etc. Russell Murray expertly uses all these additional sonic ingredients as more than necessary enhancements, accentuations, decorations, and other details to elevate his music to new heights while simultaneously remaining loyal to the primary sonic direction. This material revisits his previous works, with a brand new, experimental twist. His decision to breathe fresh air into these tracks showcases his dedication to craft, desire for experimentation, and passion for delivering only top-tier music to the table. Besides the “Mask” EP, you’ll notice some other tracks and two new compositions that vividly showcase the experimental nature of this release. Therefore, these different approaches and dabbling with several complementary music genres resulted in a comprehensive amalgam of reworked and two new tracks released last year that will immediately resonate with all music enthusiasts looking for a fresh, unique, innovative take on modern metal.
From the onset, it becomes apparent that Russell Murray poured heart and soul into this material. Each composition has a perfect structure, adorned with profoundly detailed segments, brilliant ideas, and superb musicianship. The artist left no stone unturned while reworking these songs, and although they may sound familiar to longtime fans, they also showcase many innovations in sound and production. Therefore, “24 Redux” brings more rawness, abrasiveness, grittiness, and aggression to the table, demonstrating Russell Murray’s ability to transform his earlier works and adapt to much heavier sound. For this occasion, the artist has recorded vocals at his house and produced everything on his approach. These techniques definitely contribute to the mentioned abrasiveness of the material by adding more dirtiness and detail to an already complex material. You’ll notice how his powerful, sincere, confident vocal performance elevates each track to new heights, commands attention, and guides the listening apparatus from scratch to finish. He uses several singing techniques, such as growls, screams, and shouts to convey lyrical content, and all these styles suit his energetic music. It’s nearly mindblowing how all these techniques suit the guitar works. Together, they arrive like a colossal wall of harmonious noise more than capable of tearing down everything in the broader radius.
The guitars play a significant role in this sonic equation, as they shape a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. Still, Russell Murray decided to do something completely unique and implement a midi guitar. This way, “24 Redux” resonates with everything you dearly love about modern metal, metalcore, hardcore, and post-metal, but in a fresh, unique, and innovative way. He put a lot of effort into creating all these guitar layers, so you’ll stumble upon many jaw-dropping riffs, harmonies, themes, and other sonic maneuvers that make “24 Redux” such an incredible piece worth revisiting over and over again. This level of dedication to the craft is rarely seen on the underground music scene nowadays, and Russell Murray’s ideas and musicianship definitely stand out in the vast sea of the same old, repetitious, bland modern metal bands and acts. It’s nearly mindblowing how all these guitar layers articulate without overwhelming each other. The generous servings of distortion contribute more fuzziness and grittiness to these songs, supporting powerful vocals to the max. This material wouldn’t sound this good without a rock-solid rhythm section. You’ll hear how equally impressive, warm-sounding, subtle yet vividly hearable basslines rumble beneath the guitar layers, providing more than necessary heaviness, clarity, and depth to these songs while binding mentioned instrumentations with drums. These low-ends are warm, deep, dense, and luxuriant, contributing, contributing more power and detail to the entire material. In the meantime, the excellent drumming performance based upon expertly arranged, flawlessly performed, well-accentuated, dynamic beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics keep everything in line while dictating groove and tempo. Each instrument has its place and purpose in this sonic equation, so if the guitars act as a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon then the bass and guitars serve as a backbone, holding everything together.
Tracks like “Mask,” “Burnout.v3,” “Renege,” “You Can’t Spell Believe Without Lie,” “The New World,” “Existence Is Futile,” and “Shallow” as just some of the standout tracks that vividly showcase how Russell Murray reworked his previous works, but you should pay close attention while listening to the entire material, because he put a lot of time and effort into this album. “24 Redux” is a powerful display of his boundless creativity, talent, skills, knowledge, and experience, a comprehensive collection of songs that demand your utmost attention if you’re deeply into modern metal sound. Whether you’re longtime of the genre or just a curious newbie looking for some fresh music, “24 Redux” carries many incredible moments where Russell Murray’s creative genius shines in the limelight. “24 Redux” is available on all streaming platforms. Don’t miss it!
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