A battery onslaught of raucous riffs, explosive energy, vicious vocals, and a megaton message ‘Run‘ is the kind of track that leaves a impact.
It begins with the sound of gunfire and a haunting vocal chorus. It instantly sets the scene for all that follows and announces a bittersweet and sombre mood.
When the lead guitar comes in it is hell unleashed and from the first note you can hear the blood and passion pouring from the fingers onto the strings. It’s joined by the gunfire fury of the pounding drums and the rest of the instrumentation to create a full and truly ferocious soundscape.
There is no risk of mistaking the message as one that glorifies war though as once the vocals kick in so too does the message.
At face value the song is anti-war, condemning the wests involvement in the middle east. Dive a little deeper into the lyrics though and the song is cleverly constructed and could also act as an allegory for mental health and self improvement.
The vocals are incredibly powerful throughout but it’s in the chorus that they truly soar creating a razor sharp hook that sticks in the head for a long time after the tracks finale.
This is backed up by an incredibly tight band that allow the track to progress and evolve over its duration never lingering or hammering one refrain for too long.
This is incredibly mature and nuanced song writing the type that most wouldn’t expect from the genre and it acts as testament to what good metal and hard rock can achieve.
Words by Matt Miles
