Review Summary: A unique, dark, and depressing dive into a truly unique brand of DSBM
Depressive Suicidal black metal, a genre that attracts mixed reactions, even more so than regular black metal, some people love the emotional element that is added, others think of it as people whining about their lives and substituting bad playing for attempts at atmosphere. Personally I am part of the first camp, I love DSBM, and
Unhappy a one man project from Istanbul, in particular attracts my attention, for this music is unique, truly you will never hear anything like this ever. And their album
Dear God, Thanks For The Suicide Option in particular stands out as a landmark in the subgenre.
The music itself is special, from the atmospheric, effect laden guitar, to the programmed drums, time, love and attention have gone into crafting this music, each track is different, ranging from slow, melancholic tracks that draw the listener into their own personal darkness, an example would be opener
'Past Is Your Enemy!' to faster tracks such as
'Barbarian Suicidal Black ***ing Metal' the fastest track on the album, which knocks you back under the emotion thrown at you, the music is a conveyer of the true depression and pain that is put into this album. The guitar ranges from power chords under the vocals, to chordal progressions, typical black metal tremolo picking to harmonised progressions, creating a wave of feeling and power that just sweeps the listener up and deposits them down at the end, changed forever from it. The drums, though programmed are well crafted and thought out, varying as much as the guitar and even disappearing, as they do in
'Between Uterus And The Tomb (Our Grand Despair)' ranging themselves from slow simple beats, to full on blast beats and then to hard rock patterns with smooth motions, never once sounding out of place. Also appearing is a bass guitar, which unfortunately does not raise its head much, though is discernable doing simple lines, a synth is also present, such as in
'Suicide Is The Name Of An Angel' laying down a simple arpeggio style melody.
Vocally, this is unique as well, for the majority, the vocal style is a hoarse shriek, unlike any other vocalist, with an impressive range and style from high screams, to low death growls, appearing in
'I Am Not Dead, I Am Not Alive' to croaked spoken words, the vocals are harrowing to listen to, full of despair, sadness and pain they reinforce everything the music tries to convey, through their cries and lyrics dealing with suicide, pain and depression, even Satan on one track (
'Where Are You Satan') they are the icing on this bloodstained cake. Though for the most part, the lyrics are undecipherable, you know deep down that they are dark and heartfelt.
For anyone even remotely into DSBM, or just looking for a new and depressing listen, or just for something completely different to the norm, this should definitely be on your list of consideration, especially when its free to download, this is one of the greatest, most harrowing, and unique albums iv'e ever heard in black metal.
Recommended Tracks:
Past Is Your Enemy!
Suicide Is The Name Of An Angel
I Don't Even Know Why I'm Still Alive
Suicide Lullaby
Barbarian Suicidal Black ***ing Metal
To download this, and other Unhappy albums for free, go here: http://unhappy1.bandcamp.com/
