Email the reviewerUnholy, "Blood of the Medusa"
Boasting a line-up consisting of members of Path of Resistance, Godbelow, and Santa Sangre - including vocalist Danny Johnson and Jonathan Dennison, Syracuse, NY's Unholy presents the metal world with Blood of the Medusa, the band's first full-length, which also sees the band enlist Earth Crisis' Karl Buechner and 100 Demons' Bruce LaPage for brief cameos, further upping the PR-spin for Lambgoat Records' second release. But as is the case with many a super band or heavy PR angles, should a bit of precaution be taken before buying into Unholy's seemingly underground marketability? The answer, truthfully, is no; This is an solid foray into heavy-handed, modern metal borrowing much from the underground hardcore scene, yet incorporating straight-laced heavy metal and plenty of intriguing, unique elements into the mix for a refreshingly different foray into all things heavy. Especially when the whole hardcore / metal / thrash MySpace tag has been beaten to death, with the corpse still being flogged today.
Featuring a modern take on hardcore, yet enlisting guitar shredding and Johnson's unique, abrasive vocal deliveries, Unholy offers a lot to like on the band's second release and follow up to 2006's debut EP, Awaken The Sleep. Starting with an instrumental intro, channeling The Haunted by means of the hardcore scene, Unholy breaks into 12 thrash-inspired tracks that mix up screams, growls, Swede-inspired riffs and a few slick solos, creating a guitar-catchy record filled with enough quality songs to put faith back in the fact that some bands can create songs, rather than simply mash a boatload of riffs into 10 separate movements and call it an album.
Deceptively labeled as a hardcore-inspired metal band, Blood Of the Medusa instead comes off as a hardcore screamer over Gothenburg riffs that have yet to be driven into the ground by new jack metalheads with goofy haircuts and their sister's jeans. While a few riffs do drag - most notably the catchy, but droning slower riffs of the title track, and the slow-moving intro of "Past This Mortal Flame" - and Johnson's screams could be a bit abrasive and not wide-ranging enough for some folks, Blood of the Medusa is a rock solid debut full length. With plenty of thrashy riffs - note "Touch of Death" and "Where Angels Fear" - Unholy offers up a breath of fresh air into a climate where those instances seem to be few and far between.
If you can't get on board with the vocals though, heed Johnson's opening words on "Beyond The Shroud": "Say hello to Hell." If you dig his style, this one's a keeper.
Standout Tracks Where Angels Fear |
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