Unearth formed in 1998, and released their second album,
The Oncoming Storm in 2004; which is produced by Killswitch Engage axe man, Adam Dutkiewicz. I’m going to be honest, metalcore is a genre that I usually hate, and despise. I tend to find that mostly However, with
The Oncoming Storm, I feel like I am treated to something that attempts to not just be another metalcore album.
The main thing that’s good about the album is the guitar playing. Unlike regular metalcore, seven-stringers Ken Susi, and Buz McGrath play some interesting leads on almost all of the songs. There is even the occasional solo once in a while; the greatest of the solos is on the best song
Zombie Autopilot. Then the intro to
Lie To Purify, while somewhat simple, is also amazing at the same time. The songs are constructed well, and do repeat parts many times, but still sound fresh. The drums are good with frequent fills. The double bass is present a lot, and very fast. The best song is
Predetermined Sky, where for about half the song, there is active double bass accompanied by some of the most beautiful guitar playing I’ve ever heard.
Even though this is musically enjoyable, there are two major things that detract from the album, and a few minor issues. The first is that singer Trevor’s screaming is generic, and his clean voice he will use is even worse. Which is apparent near the end of the opening song,
The Great Dividers. At times he sounds like a mediocre Howard Jones, particularly when he attempts to sing cleanly (I wouldn’t even call it singing, more like talking), but usually he sounds like half of the other metalcore vocalists in the scene today. However, on the song
Lie To Purify, he does an above average job with some screaming that seems somewhat pop influenced. The other big problem is that the guitars, while at times playing fantastic leads, and solos, they also tend to use straightforward riffs that seem to be re-hashed over, and over again. One minor problem it that the bass work is hardly felt anywhere on the record, something metal bassists won’t like. These two negatives both lead to one other con, repetitiveness. Save one, or two songs, and an interlude, every song seems exactly the same as the other.
The Oncoming Storm has a few things going for it, but won’t appeal to too many people. There’s some great guitar, and drum instrumentation on the record, but most won’t find it worth it to buy the album just for that. Still, if you do play guitar, or drums, and into this kind of metal; I would suggest you at least try out the album.
Within the genre: 3.5/5
Outside the genre: 2/5
Overall rating: 3/5
