Unearth’s eighth release ‘The Wretched; The Ruinous’ presented fans with an uncompromising thirty six minutes worth of pure metal. The US metalcore band pulled out all the stops to deliver a truly heavy set which pulled together the strongest elements of their crossover sound. The album’s highlights really showed how broadly the band could apply their heaviness for mixed results: ‘Eradicator’ drew from the groove metal of Pantera’s ‘Far Beyond Driven’; the brilliant ‘Broken Arrow’ slowed down just enough to show off more of a timeless hardcore approach; ‘Dawn of The Militant’ applied angular rhythms against a slow and sludgy groove before dropping into some superb thrash passages, effectively showing off the full range of the band’s talents, and ‘Mother Betrayal’ even found time to drop melodic arpeggios and goth influenced vocal passages into something derived from classic Lamb of God. ‘TW;TR’ was one of 2023’s strongest metal discs – one of those records that offered fans of extreme sounds something great, no matter where they chose to drop in.

This EP offers their audience more of the same brilliance. Despite having a short running time, its studio/live hybrid still allows for a fairly broad look into the band’s talents. ‘Sea of The Lost’ fades in with a huge feedback drone, and the way it gradually increases in volume suggests something huge on the horizon. Soon enough, the band launches into a few bars of pure metalcore, with a world of pneumatic rhythms joined by vocalist Trevor Phipps in full roar. At the point where the heavy as hell melody appears to be taking hold, the band uproots it in favour of something more angular, and the blend of metalcore and truly abrasive arty thrash presents one of the heaviest moments within the Unease canon. Moving away from that seemingly just as quickly, the track shifts into a chorus where a more traditional metalcore sound allows for more of a relative melody, with a soaring guitar joining a great vocal, but it’s when dropping into more of a slow, hardcore breakdown the musicians really come into their own. The repetitious grind set in place by guitarists Buz McGrath and Peter Layman is absolutely devastating, and drummer Mike Justian sounds as if he could power through absolutely anything. Despite this track being constructed from three very different elements, it actually flows well, and for those already familiar with Unease’s brutal approach, it should become a favourite in no time at all.

With more of a razor’s edge sound to the rhythm guitar work, the shorter ‘Warrior Souls’ offers more of a hardcore feel at first, and the edginess carries through brilliantly into a verse that’s delivered with more of a classic thrash intent. Armed with the speed driven riff, the band set about making things more interesting, first by applying a siren like counter melody from the lead guitar, then by briefly teasing with a slower breakdown. Everything remains truly heavy, with the dual guitars and bassist Chris O’Toole’s bottom end doing some really heavy lifting, but for those who’ve spent years on a steady diet of Lamb of God, Backdawn and Bury Your Dead albums, it’ll be the second half of the track that leaves the more indelible mark, when Unease attack some genuinely dirty riffs with equal parts hardcore and thrash to slay everything in their path. As a companion to the best bits of the previous LP, this works brilliantly.

The studio tracks are strong, but its on a pair of live tracks (recorded in Texas) where the band truly comes into their own. ‘The Wretched; The Ruinous’ kicks off with a blast of metalcore that pushes the sound further towards classic death with its grumbling bass and relentless double bass drums. The more organic sound makes the downtuned guitars sound even heavier, too. For a few bars, Unearth sound heavier than ever. Gradually, the speed driven tune begins to emerge with more of its distinctively melodic flourishes, and between huge bursts of metal that sound like Lamb of God wearing some hefty boots, you’ll find some perfect twin leads, and latterly, a fantastic soaring lead to counterbalance the heaviness. Going even heavier, ‘Dawn of The Militant’ presents a full scale hardcore blast, with the twin guitars hammering at full pelt, or at least it feels that way until the last bars crank the speed for full effect, before going to the other extreme, when the band present themselves in full sludge/melodic death mode. Whichever way you approach these live tracks, though, they’re utterly superb.

Over a quarter of a century into their career, this short listen shows Unease with no desire to either slow down with their musical assault, or take a more commercial approach. As a primer for both the band’s studio and live work, it hold up well, but actually feels bigger than your average stop gap. As a companion to ‘The Wretched; The Ruinous’ it’s utterly immense. Highly recommended.

July 2024