Unearth – The Oncoming Storm
Author: Aidan Gray
With the recent explosion of heavy music in Massachusetts, bands like Shadows Fall, and Killswitch Engage are seeing the success that years ago they could only dream of. Unearth’s latest offering, “The Oncoming Storm”, definitely furthers this explosion. For fans of Unearth’s previous efforts, the foundation that wrote “Stings Of Conscience” is still there, flashy metalcore with great riffs, and punishing breakdowns but “The Oncoming Storm” is far more refined. The riffs are improved, as Ken Susi and Buz Mcgrath shine on a “Zombie Autopilot”, a song so guitar driven it’s easily reminiscent of ‘Whoracle’-era In Flames – For those of you vastly uneducated in that kind of music, this implies the song contains amazing lead guitar, and great dueling melodies.
The heart of the album appears to be between tracks three and six, beginning with “This Lying World”, starting off with a destructive breakdown, leading into some more slick guitar melodies throughout the chorus, into another breakdown that ends the song with brutal punch to the face of any listener. Personally, I feel that the best song on this album is “Bloodlust Of The Human Condition”…a song that the band has debuted live on several tours, but much like the remainder of the album, this song is far more refined. Similar to ‘This Lying World’, ‘Bloodlust’ begins with a very intense breakdown, followed by shred comparable to material on Soilwork’s “A Predator’s Portrait” and Unearth’s own “One Step Away” off of their first full length. The amount that this song has to offer; Devastating breakdowns, with the most metal of leads. Another ear-catching song is “Aries”, a more relaxed instrumental with Trevor’s background vocals, much different to anything Unearth has done before.
Contributing to this strong Metal Blade debut is producer Adam Dutkiewicz, long time friend and producer of their first full length. On a personal level, its clear Adam adds a lot to this cd, as with most of his efforts you can hear his influence. The crisp sound of the melodies, and a much clearer edge on the drums refine this album into the monster that it is. Even with the addition of sporadically used clean vocals, there aren’t many differences when comparing “The Oncoming Storm” to Unearth’s previous releases, only improvements. If you’re a fan of metalcore, or the fusing genres, do yourself a favor, take your hard-earned $10, go to your local music retailer, and buy “The Oncoming Storm” in preparation for it to hit all this summer on the side stage of this years Ozzfest.
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