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Thanks to the stereotypical views on Seattle, and grunge, the Pacific Northwest of America is often portrayed as the doom and gloom region of America. Which would make it fertile breeding grounds for heavy, doom-laden, goth acts. Enter Unto Others. Hailing from Portland, Oregon (the second-largest populated city in the region), the artists formerly known as Idle Hands might get less rain than their neighbours in Seattle, but still enough to make them distant relatives of classic trailblazing acts from the North of England such as Joy Division, Echo and The Bunnymen, and the original sullen bastards themselves – Paradise Lost.
‘Strength’ marks the debut outing for Roadrunner Records, and comes a few years after the acclaimed debut full-length album ‘Mana’, and it makes perfect sense for Unto Others to sign to the home of Type O Negative, for you will pick up plenty of Peter Steele influences throughout ‘Strength’; especially on opening track ‘Heroin’. Beginning with a wail of feedback, which gives way to some classic groove metal riffs, the song settles down into a Volbeat-meets-Metallica vibe, but with thick, gloomy vocals creating a perfect gothic atmosphere. With a mixture of clean vocals and a few harsh screams, the vocals from Gabriel Franco are full of life – as are his and Sebastian Silva’s guitar breaks – and slowly pull the listener in, once they are onboard ‘Downtown’ pulls the rug out from under their feet. After such a full-on, doom-filled opener, the English-influenced ‘Downtown’ comes as a massive surprise and so begins the abundance of variety on show throughout ‘Strength’. Iron Maiden-influenced guitar melodies twinned with hints of The Cure might sound like a bizarre mash-up, but it sure as hell works and who cannot identify with the line; “…stranger, please don’t talk to me…”. ‘When Will Gods Work Be Done’ is what it sounds like when Peter Hook thinks out of the box and starts to mix shit up during rehearsals, and although the track was birthed in Portland, it was conceived in Manchester. So much going on during the 4:06 minutes (including a little bit of industrial) that it will make your head spin.
Thanks to some incredible drumming from Colin Vranizan and thick bass licks from Brandon Hill, ‘Destiny’ is one of the standout tracks of the 12 featured. A real galloping feel to Vranizan’s kick drum work on a track that gets better with each listen. Vranizan’s fine work also plays a major role in the ‘80s-influenced ‘Why’ which sees Gabriel Franco putting a Morrissey-Esque spin on his vocals and combined with the good vibes of ‘Just A Matter Of Time’ that immediately follows on from ‘Why’, makes for an interesting six minutes or so. Pat Benatar’s ‘Hell Is For Children’ might seem like an odd choice for a doom gothic band to cover, but given the dark subject matter it makes perfect sense, and Unto Others knock it out of the park; the ‘80s tropes are all still there, but with modern production qualities and a heightened sense of reality giving how prevalent the subject matter sadly still is 41 years after the original. The air of “expect the unexpected” lingers throughout the album and is best summed up by the hugely varied title track that ends the album; you could tie yourself in knots trying to count all the different tastes featured on the track (Frankie Goes To Hollywood bass licks?!), but it’s best just to go with the flow and enjoy what is one of the freshest, most imaginative tracks heard since Biffy Clyro went a bit shit.
An album that constantly surprises, keep everything crossed for the 2022 live EU dates with Arch Enemy, Behemoth, and Carcass. Just saying those names in the same sentence is kinda special, yeah?
‘Strength’ is available now, more information, here.
Review – Dave
