Unjust - Glow
Copro Records - COP032 - 2004
By Philip Whitehouse
After two albums residing in the musical landscape already populated by the likes of countrymen Machine Head and Skinlab, Bay Area metallers Unjust seem to have taken stock of the musical goings-on around them, and made a few changes to their Faith No More tinged aggro-metal leanings. In the process, frontman Paul Mendoza has ditched his guitar to concentrate solely on vocals, and a new guitar player and songwriter has been drafted in the form of Mike Merino. So, what difference has this made to their sound?
Well, the stomping, aggressive nature of tracks like 'Come Feel Me' from previous album Makeshift Grey has been jettisoned in favour of emotional, anthemic metal tinged with hints of Deftones's White Pony and Glassjaw's Worship and Tribute. Out are the syncopated stabs of guitar and bass drums, and in are vast washes of melodicism carrying soaring, dramatic vocals along in their path. The keyboards are very tastefully used, filling out the sound to give the huge choruses even more space in which to weave their entrancing magic.
Track highlights include the simplistic but soul-baringly effective 'Falling', in which a driving, mid-tempo chorus steers the track towards its eventual crescendo, and album closer 'Room 5', which begins with swirling, melodic keyboard ambience before crashing into a slow-burning riff topped off with Mendoza's most snarling and dramatic vocal performance in the album, his Mike Patton meets Daryl Palumbo singing providing the emotional dynamism that the group's shift in direction requires.
Some may mourn for the heavier, more aggressive Unjust of old, and still others may accuse the band of selling out, making their sound more emotional and accessible specifically to garner more widespread mainstream appeal - but when the result sounds as impeccably written, engaging and sincere as this, such criticisms are pretty much meaningless.
9/10
Unjust Official Website
Copro Records Website
Copro Records - COP032 - 2004
By Philip Whitehouse
After two albums residing in the musical landscape already populated by the likes of countrymen Machine Head and Skinlab, Bay Area metallers Unjust seem to have taken stock of the musical goings-on around them, and made a few changes to their Faith No More tinged aggro-metal leanings. In the process, frontman Paul Mendoza has ditched his guitar to concentrate solely on vocals, and a new guitar player and songwriter has been drafted in the form of Mike Merino. So, what difference has this made to their sound?
Well, the stomping, aggressive nature of tracks like 'Come Feel Me' from previous album Makeshift Grey has been jettisoned in favour of emotional, anthemic metal tinged with hints of Deftones's White Pony and Glassjaw's Worship and Tribute. Out are the syncopated stabs of guitar and bass drums, and in are vast washes of melodicism carrying soaring, dramatic vocals along in their path. The keyboards are very tastefully used, filling out the sound to give the huge choruses even more space in which to weave their entrancing magic.
Track highlights include the simplistic but soul-baringly effective 'Falling', in which a driving, mid-tempo chorus steers the track towards its eventual crescendo, and album closer 'Room 5', which begins with swirling, melodic keyboard ambience before crashing into a slow-burning riff topped off with Mendoza's most snarling and dramatic vocal performance in the album, his Mike Patton meets Daryl Palumbo singing providing the emotional dynamism that the group's shift in direction requires.
Some may mourn for the heavier, more aggressive Unjust of old, and still others may accuse the band of selling out, making their sound more emotional and accessible specifically to garner more widespread mainstream appeal - but when the result sounds as impeccably written, engaging and sincere as this, such criticisms are pretty much meaningless.
9/10
Unjust Official Website
Copro Records Website
