One fan’s trash is another fan’s treasure…
The Unseen are a band who polarizes
their fans opinions. With every move they make, with every record they
create, they experience some kind of backlash. The release of “Internal
Salvation” will most definitely be met with the usual cries of “sell
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out” from the narrow minded members of the punk community, but for
those who don’t care about scene politics, this is a great record.
Prior to hearing “Internal Salvation”
I wasn’t really familiar with The Unseen. Based on the song or two
that’d I’d heard on a compilation and their appearance, I assumed
The Unseen were a straight up punk band. I was pleasantly surprised
that album opener “The Brutal Truth” had more in common with Iron
Maiden than Rancid!
“Such Tragedy” is a half time
tune that reminded me a lot of early AFI – complete with shrieked
vocals and gang choruses. “At Point Break” has an instantly catchy
chorus hook which is an impressive feat if you take into account how
Mark (vocalist) actually sings.
The stop start nature of “Right
Before Your Eyes” is a cool way to break up a record which predominantly
consists of upbeat songs – something a lot of punk bands don’t take
into account when putting together an album.
Album closer “Talking Bombs”
is another stand out track. While not differing greatly to the other
material on the record, the simple but effective guitar lead throughout
the song is an awesome way to close out the album.
The production on “Internal
Salvation” is something that seems to be copping a lot of flack on
message boards – long term fans feel the band has lost some its bite
– but every song sounds fucking great. The bass line doesn’t get
lost in the mix (a major gripe of mine with a lot of punk records),
the drums are prominent without being triggered to the point of sounding
like a beat program and the vocals have struck a perfect balance with
the guitars.
You’d be hard pressed to find
a bad song on “Internal Salvation”. Some people may argue that a
lot of the tracks sound the same – and to a certain degree I can understand
where they’re coming from, but at the end of the day, there are only
so many tempos you can play a punk rock song!
Great record from a band of genuinely
nice guys and I’m looking forward to another trip down under! With
the band appearing on the 2007 US Warped Tour I can’t see any reason
why The Unseen can’t achieve the same level of popularity as a band
like Against Me.
(Nothing Left)