Review Summary: DSBM at its finest, darkest and most depressing
Dark orchestration, violins playing a sombre melody, a drone in the background. This is the start to a very dark journey that will draw you in, break your will and push you out again feeling miserable, isolated and depressed, but you will have enjoyed it. Unhappy is a one man depressive suicidal black metal band by lone member 'Lame Bastard' and
Despair is the second album by this project, the first been
Dear God, Thanks For The Suicide Option. And its as dark, depressive and brilliant as the first.
Opener
Black Metal Desolation starts with the previously mentioned opening before thrusting you into a fast, furious battery of guitar and drums and tortured vocals. Lame Bastard does all the instrumentation, from the guitar, to the drums, to the synths in the background, and even a piano on
Rain And Grey Sky. All of it beautifully comes together to create the perfect dark and gloomy atmosphere, which is the true selling point of Unhappy, you believe the message. The guitars with their grating and dark distortion set up many perfectly crafted riffs and tremolo picked lines, both fast and slow licks, with a level of precision and thought clearly been placed into every one. The drums underneath play a variety of different patterns, from all out blast beats and rolls, to slow almost rock style lines, many are imaginative patterns that stand out, unlike many from other projects. The synthesisers that appear in some songs, such as the opener add to the atmosphere, creating sombre lines in the background that, whilst they don't draw your attention away from the body of the music, you are still greatly aware of them. Whilst the bass isn't that audible, it doesn't take anything away from the sound, that when brought together becomes an audible embodiment of the feelings and pains that DSBM always strives to create. For the most part this album is slow, with exceptions such as
Black Metal Desolation, but for the most part tracks such as
I Want To Die (Then Die!) and
Darkness Is My Sun are slow tracks, guiding you through the maze of twisted thoughts and feelings that are been expressed, taking you through the dark mind of a depressed individuals musical escapism.
Which takes us to the vocals of that individual, Lame Bastard has a unique style of vocals which iv'e not heard anywhere else. His hoarse and tortured shrieks are the highlight of the album, for they are what truly sells its message of suicide and despair, ranging from a high shriek, to a hoarse moan, to low growling, never getting in the way of the music, and unfortunately never often having discernible lyrics, they are hard to listen to, they are obviously full of the sadness, despair and pain that is expressed through the music itself, and the lyrics most likely are on the same page.
So, Unhappys next album is as harrowing, dark, despair and depressing as the first, though slower for the most part, this comes up as another totally unique example of DSBM, just as
Dear God... was, DSBM fans, or just black metal fans in general should check it out.
Recommended tracks:
Black Metal Desolation
Darkness Is My Sun
Despair
I Want To Die (Then Die!)
Rain And Grey Sky
To download Unhappy albums visit: http://unhappy1.bandcamp.com/
(Though this album is not on there)
