Review: Unearth - The Stings of Conscience

artist: unearth album: the stings of conscience label: eulogy recordings released: 1/16/01 by: eduardo moutinho Let me be blunt here, I don’t like metal. I don’t like cheesy solos. I don’t like whammy bars, and I sure as hell don’t like Yngwie Malmsteen. I’m not into new school metal either. You won’t find me at a Meshuggah or Children of Bodom show. It’s pretty cut and dry with me. Kind of… When I first heard of Unearth, and what they’re all about, I was really turned off. I heard about their amazing guitarists and ridiculous talent, and thought that I would absolutely hate them. I held this mentality until I went to a show last December, the self-dubbed “Cancelfest 2002.” At this show, Unearth became the headliner by default because A Static Lullaby, Hope Conspiracy, and From Autumn to Ashes didn’t make the show due to the weather. I was left there, angry and irritated. I didn’t want to sit through a show like that in my wildest imaginations. Amazingly, after watching the mass of hair, sweat, and technical prowess known as Unearth, I was converted into a fan. Unearth manages to do the impossible. They bridge the gap between those who love metal, and those who love hardcore. They take a little bit from hardcore, like the non-guttural screaming vocals and devastating breakdowns, and combine it with a few hints of metal, like blistering leads and power ballad verses. It’s a relatively simple concept that is difficult to explain. In layman’s terms, they take the good stuff from hardcore and metal and put it together into something nice. While this music takes incredible musicianship to play, there are no odd times or experiments going on here. This music is pretty straightforward. It’s the kind of music you want to listen to while beating on something. This is as “Headbanger’s Ball” as hardcore gets. In actuality, this is the definition of metalcore. Anyway, this review goes over Unearth’s latest full-length, The Stings of Conscience. This is a relatively old release, yet I think it’s an important album to review. Each song on the album can be described as a jumble of heavy segments, lead segments, interludes, and breakdowns. While this is somewhat general, you won’t be seeing spontaneous moments of brilliance by the band here. A pattern is being followed, and it works, for what the band is trying to accomplish. Songs like “Only the People,” “One Step Away,” and "Fuel the Fire” start out violently and stay the course. The hard intros lead into complicated string bridges, where a scale is being dexterously executed by one of the band’s guitar players. It’s ridiculous. On many occasions I found myself with my mouth wide open, imagining how difficult it is to play some of these parts. Other impressive guitar feats, such as finger tapping, are evident as well. The two guitarists in this band are incredibly talented. The title track of the album serves as a résumé for these two individuals. A good 75% of the song is all lead. It’s pure insanity. What’s even more impressive is that the songs are faithfully reproduced on stage, and in some cases, one of the players has his guitar behind his head. Unbelievable. You might be wondering, “I remember you saying that you hate lead parts, what gives?” Good question. I believe my previous statement of Unearth’s music being a good mix of hardcore and metal answers this question. While these crazy lead parts are going on, the vocals and drumming are keeping it from sounding like Exodus. The vocals are well done and the drumming is quite proficient. Unearth sounds hardcore, to be quite honest. They manage to do it. Plus, the lead parts are balanced out by nasty breakdowns. This band delivers some of the hardest breakdowns I have ever heard. I mean, this is the kind of hard that can render someone into a Cro-Magnon man. I’ve seen it happen before. In addition to all the heaviness, some songs actually have hints of power ballad-like interludes. Songs like “My Desire” and “Monition,” while very heavy in their own right, have instances of slow and tinny interludes, which would make Whitesnake proud. There is no singing, at all. But these interludes are there, and almost out of place. Sometimes, in the case of “Monition,” they act as transitions to blistering heaviness. There’s not much more I can say about this album, outside of it being a good escape from reality, if you’re angry or in the mood to get your heart racing a little bit. It won’t challenge your brain, unless you play guitar and wish you were as good as the individuals in this band. favorite song: "stings of conscience" rating: 83%/100% listen to unearth