While touring the United States in November 1979, Cabaret Voltaire became strongly interested in the rise of the Christian right in the country and its use of television, especially the fundraising broadcasts of televangelistEugene Scott.[1] They compared this phenomenon to the parallel rise of Islamism, devoting a side of vinyl to each strand of religious politics on their 1980 album Three Mantras. Red Mecca was a culmination of this interest. According to band member Richard H. Kirk: "The whole Afghanistan situation was kicking off, Iran had the American hostages [...] it's not called [Red Mecca] by coincidence. We weren't referencing the fucking Mecca Ballroom in Nottingham!"[2]
Red Mecca was recorded at Western Works in Sheffield in May 1981.
NME named Red Mecca the ninth best album of 1981.[11]
Andy Kellman of AllMusic retrospectively praised the album, writing, "Unlike a fair portion of [Cabaret Voltaire]'s studio output, Red Mecca features no failed experiments or anything that could be merely cast off as 'interesting.' It's a taut, dense, horrific slab lacking a lull."[12]Uncut cited Red Mecca as the band's "masterpiece", where they "struck the perfect balance between experimentalism and entryism".[10]Record Collector's Ian Shirley called it "a seismic release" and noted "its timeless sheen, with the Cabs' use of echo, space and phasing lending depth and vibrancy to the album."[6] In 2019, Pitchfork ranked Red Mecca as the fourth best industrial album of all time, deeming it a "paranoid, claustrophobic masterpiece".[1]
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