For as often as I preach the age old adage of “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, I tend to contradict myself by doing exactly that. Look no further than Redshark. It was a few years ago that this Spanish act first crossed my radar. While their name, a homage to Crimson Glory, caught my attention, it was their eyesore of a mascot, a red jacked shark-human hybrid that looks like a Catholic school football mascot, that had me thinking, “There’s no way this could possibly be more than ridiculous NWOTHM cheese.” Fast forward a few years later and their fish-humanoid mutant has swam his way into my inbox again, this time via their sophomore album, Sudden Impact, daring me to give the band a fair shake. Considering my unabashed love for a band with a seal-human hybrid mascot, I guess it’s only proper I give Redshark a chance.
Upon further investigation, it just so turns out that Redshark boasts some overlap with another band we’ve reviewed this year. Frontman Pau Correas also provides screams and shrieks for Italian speed metallers, Crimson Storm, who took this little ol’ webzine by storm in the earliest days of 2025 with their debut ripper, Livin’ on the Bad Side. Yet whereas Crimson Storm are a full fledged speed metal band with the occasional traditional metal foray throughout, Redshark comes off as a straightforward ’80s traditional metal worship act, with no shortage of speed metal outbursts and euro power metal leanings to boot. If that sounds redundant, allow me to rephrase like this: Crimson Storm are speed/heavy metal, Redshark is heavy/speed metal. Still too redundant? *sigh*
The half of Sudden Impact that falls into the speed metal category is fast, forceful, and ferocious, adhering strongly to the genre’s traditional metal spirit and never veering into metalpunk or proto-thrash territory, save for perhaps the closing blitz of “Fight the Rules of Power”. Breakneck blitzkriegs like the opening title cut, “Your Last Breath”, “Rip Your Bones”, and “Beware of the Shark” recall fellow modern day speed dealers Traveler (R.I.P.) and Sölicitör, as well as the gods of yesteryear (i.e. Thundersteel era Riot, Agent Steel, etc.) Its at this rapid fire pace that Redshark are at their strongest, dealing in no frills ’80s speed worship as if its second nature.
Of course, for every one of these blatant speed-fests is the obligatory traditional metal anthem, some of which are quite enjoyable, while others fall trap to the usual NWOTHM cliches. The melodically valorous approach of cuts like “Fire Raider”, “Hypnotized”, and “Whispers of Time” sound lifted straight out of the Painkiller era Priest playbook, with some of the riffing on “Hypnotized” even sounding eerily similar to “Hell Patrol”. Meanwhile, “The Chase” stands as a sole slab of Helloween worship, complete with uptempo drumming, soaring melodies, and dramatic vocal chops. While it’s a pleasant homage to the kings of euro power, it also doesn’t eclipse anything off the Pumpkinheads’ latest opus.
All things considered, Sudden Impact‘s music is a hell of a lot cooler than the bizarro character who graces its cover. Its a fine-tuned heavy-speed-power amalgamation that, despite its strongest moments being its most frenzied, offers plenty of enjoyable old school romanticism on the midtempo anthems as well. Despite being cut from the NWOTHM cloth, Redshark prove that they can swim with the big fishes, and will gladly eat up the chum that is your run of the mill Priest/Maiden knockoff for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We’re gonna need a bigger boat!
7 out of 10
Label: Listenable Records
Genre: Heavy Metal
For fans of: Traveler, Judas Priest, Riot