Brutal Death Metal
Aqua Teen | Chicago | 11/29/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Unmerciful stands out to me in the brutal DM realm, which is impressive because Unmercifully Beaten is their first album. They've already harnessed their skills as a band and established their music writing, which doesn't happen often with most bands in their first release. This album is highly technical with surprisingly a lot of personality with the guitars taking the lead in every track. The guitars show amazing technique as they shred through scales and create epic stories consisting of complex melodies that follow one another providing unpredictable hooks. The occasional multi melody played by each guitar, often played in different octaves and key signatures not only increases the technicality, but intensifies the riffs leading in and out of these melodies. The occasional tremolo picked riff is not used as the main themes, but are used to finish or link scales to other scales and chord progressions. The music writing is top notch. At times, it's almost as if the guitars, drums, and bass are playing unrelated riffs due to how dynamic they are. However, the instruments come together perfectly adding their own unique elements, which complete the themes and ideas. There are some time signatures that are so complex that they sound off beat until after some repetition, the listener develops the timing on their own and comprehends the complexity. The odd time signatures flourish in particular during the frequent guitar shredding. Another interesting element of this album is how most of the riffs despite the variety of tempos and time signatures, flow perfectly with one another. As the music progresses, every detail is thrown together in a highly intricate and complex pattern that's always in a constant and circular motion. There's only one solo, but it's a neo-classical shred fest that's played with complete clarity. The grooves contain warlike power behind them, which adds an epic sense to this album. Stay tuned to Unmerciful because they got off on a great start and as they grow as a band, they'll be releasing progressively better albums. Check out Unique Leader's website for more brutal DM bands.
Total time: 31:11
"
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1