Unearth Endless

Finally, a band I don't even need to introduce. Well, I'm sure you guys all know who Unearth is, and if you don't, too bad. I'm not gonna explain who they are or how hard they rock, which I'm guessing is pretty similar to the rock that covers the pathetic, little hole you live in, should you in fact not know what Unearth is all about. Anyway, to start, "Endless" is quite a sexy album. I always figure that when the chorus of any of the songs on a record are breakdowns themselves, it's gotta be good. To me, it sounds like for this effort, the guys all sat around, whipped out some brutal breakdown, and structured the rest of the song around it. In short: they bring the mosh. "Endless," the title track, follows the same "breakdown chorus" schematic I mentioned above, and definitely sets the pace for the whole MCD. Vocalist Trevor Phipps expands his range a bit more on this album in comparison to "The Stings of Conscience," which is great, as it adds that much more diversity to the album. The next track, "Internal War," is a very straight-forward anti-war song that's more about the culture of fear that perpetuates war, rather than some hippie ballad about how simply laying down our arms will stop the machine. I'm no Noam Chomsky, of course, but that's what I got out of it, at least. "The Charm" is the "weakest" song on the album (if you could even call it that). Regardless, it's still heavy as lead, and there's plenty of Iron Maiden-type guitar work to keep the metal horns a' coming. "My Desire," is an older track which appeared on "The Stings...", though this is a demo version. Regardless, it came in as a close second to my personal favorite. It begins with an extended (and crushingly melodic) guitar harmonization that quickly launches into a blazingly fast shred-a-thon accompanied by plenty of double-bass pedal action and shout-out breakdowns. And a lot of hyphens courtesy of yours truly. I also must mention Adam Dutkiewicz, who worked to record and produce the first three tracks on this album. Adam D. also worked with them on "The Stings of Conscience." Essentially, there's nothing that I could pick out production-wise that was done in an ill or hasty manner. Props to Mr. Dutkiewicz. The cover of the EP is also an original Derrick Hess piece. It's too bad the Zao/Dancer one is already "taken," because it would probably be more appropriate for Unearth. And speaking of dancing, do yourself a favor and see these guys live if you already haven't. If you thought practicing in front of your mirror was cool, flailing your arms madly at a real Unearth show will make you pee your pants. Plus, you don't have to worry about knocking your mom's favorite lamp over or some shit like that. Rock. Bottom Line: You should probably pick this album up if you already haven't done so. Old fans of Unearth will appreciate this right off the bat, as it's even more technical and harsh than their last record, and even those who haven't heard of them will have no problem getting into their sound. Yeah, I know, it's only four songs, but trust me, it's worth every penny of it, ya cheapskate.