Review: Unearth – The March
This is a band I have struggled with since I heard about them in 2004. There was a lot that I liked but some stuff that I could have done without. The March is both a triumph and a failure for this band.
I’ll start with the bad this time. I had really high hopes for this record once I saw that vocalist Trevor was taking vocal lessons from the “Queen of Scream” Melissa Cross, whom I own both of her awesome DVD’s. He has always been the weakest link in this band. Very bland and uninspiring vocals on every single record. I thought maybe this time he would change it up, but no, same old stuff nothing all that different. Same mid-range understandable screams that verge on muddled yells. The March is also the band’s first record without Mike Justian, who also played on The Red Chord’s groundbreaking “Fused Together in Revolving Doors”. Justian’s unconventional drumming gave Unearth a signature sound that was raw and unkempt. The polish came from guitar players Buz and Ken but now with Derek (Seemless, Shadows Fall) they now have a sound that is much like any other metal-core band and with Mike D. at the helm it’s a little too polished for my liking.
The praise of this album rests solely on the string section. If any guitarists in the current mainstream metal scene are up and coming guitar gods, they are Buz and Ken. The March is by far the best written and played Unearth album yet. It’s faster, tighter, more intricate and more heavy and you have to give it to Slo for keeping up with them. The riffs are interesting, the hooks are memorable and the breakdowns tastefull and not over-done. Where All That Remains failed on “Overcome” to push the sound into new territory, Unearth is moving beyond the standard metal-core fad boundaries and are starting to define what modern thrash should sound like.
It’s a good record but Trevor to me continues to hold them back as a band. It’ll take a few listens before I can really get used to them without Mike too. Over-all a solid release.
Yeah, i dont know if i like them or not in the end. I saw them play last night at The House of Blues in Los Angeles and it was decent. They had a lot of die hard fans there so it was a good show. But, i must confess i am a Protest the Hero nut so i have to say they were the best at the show last night! It was funny, the drummer of Protest and I both have long curly hair, so all night people thought i was him and wanted to get pictures. Some guy even bought me a beer and after i told him i was just a fan (i was wearing the band’s tee shirt) he laughed and let me keep the beer anyways! Good times! K