Unearth – The Oncoming Storm (#2)
Author: Terry Badman
Unearth – “The Oncoming Storm” (Metal Blade/2004)
The Band: Trevor Phipps (Vocals), Buz McGrath (Guitar), Ken Susi (Guitar), Jon “Slo” Maggard (Bass), Mike Justian (Drums)
[i]“…Leaders of the free world lead into the land of the un-free. God send politics hammered down with a fist too bold. Play the council of pawns in the quest of total control. Free us from this hate…”[/i]
Ah, Unearth. Here’s a band that totally caught me with my pants down not too long ago. I had the fortunate pleasure of seeing them on the first Headbangers Ball tour along side the likes of metal heavyweights Shadows Fall, Lamb of God, and Killswitch Engage. I had heard that they put on one hell of a show, but really didn’t think much of it at the time. To my surprise, the rumors were true. They simply dominated. To this day, they are STILL one of the best live acts around. I left the show awestruck, amazed, and craving their new CD that was to come out in a few months. So here I am in the present, with a copy of their new album “The Oncoming Storm”. Unfortunately, I feel rather disappointed.
This album to me feels a bit empty. I don’t know why, it just does. It seemed that the entire time I was listening to it, I never really connected with it at all. The instrumentals are all good, with a great amount of shredding, a few solos here and there, and the now standard machine-gun double bass. But for God’s sake, do we really need a breakdown in every single song? Too many bands do that now, and it’s become an all to predictable part of the genre now. I mean what solos were to 80’s thrash bands; breakdowns are to today’s metalcore bands. You can almost set your watch by their predictability. I mean it was good, but they’re a thousand other newer bands these days that use the same formula. Nothing caught me off guard on this album.
And what is metalcore exactly? Well to me, metalcore is just a fancy term for a hardcore band with decent instrumentals. And that’s what likely turned me off the most about this record. Hardcore vocals like Trevor’s are a dime a dozen these days. It’s all indecipherable screaming, and I can think of a dozen bands right now that sound exactly like him. Every song sounds nearly the same because of it, and it makes things very boring very quickly. Sure, every once in a while they’ll throw in some very brief melodic vocals. But again, how many bands out there these days do the exact same thing? Long story short, I’ve never been a huge fan of this style of vocals. To me, something like this plays a factor into how much I enjoy the album. Especially when every song sounds the same.
The whole album is very fast and very heavy. But because most of the songs sound the same, it’s hard to tell where one song ends and another begins. A great portion of it deals with the same ol’ “the government is evil” and “the world is shit,” type vibe. There are some decent lyrics, but again, it’s the same thing I’ve heard a hundred times before. Plus it’s kinda hard to get your point across when all you hear is one long scream. That’s not to say it’s a bad album, though. “Zombie Autopilot” is a terrific song with a kickass riff and solo to go with it. The piano driven “Aries” is a nice little mellow track that gives you a break from the screaming for a couple minutes. There are some others as well, but nothing that really struck me between the eyes as amazing.
Overall I think it’s a matter of taste. I personally don’t have a great amount or appreciation for hardcore vocals. I never have. And while usually I’m more impressed with instrumentals anyway, I just couldn’t get into this CD at all. Then again bands like these really shine at live shows, and don’t usually translate well onto a CD. This is likely the case for me. They’re an excellent live band. I can’t deny that. Those of you who absolutely love the metalcore genre will likely eat it up. I really wanted to like this CD more than I did, but for me personally it’s just another album that I’ve heard a dozen times already this year.
PROS: Good instrumentals, and “Zombie Autopilot” is destined to be a classic.
CONS: This is basically the generic blueprint for a metalcore band. Love it or hate it hardcore screams, predictable breakdowns, borderline preachy lyrics, and pretty much generic as hell. Not for everyone, especially those growing tired of this particular sound that seems to be everywhere these days. Repetition repetition repetition.
MISC: This disc also contains a video for “Black Hearts Now Reign”. John Maggard plays guitar, bass, and piano on the track “Aries”. The total playtime is 40:44.
SCORE: 6/10
-Tracks-
1. The Great Dividers
2. Failure
3. This Lying World
4. Black Hearts Now Reign
5. Zombie Autopilot
6. Bloodlust of the Human Condition
7. Lie To Purify
8. Endless
9. Aries
10. Predetermined Sky
11. False Idols
(No Ratings Yet)
